Plans are being made to modify a bridge in south Kilkenny which has been described by councillors as a danger to motorists.
Milltown Bridge on the N25 at Glenmore is to have refurbishment works carried out to the structure in order to prevent young hooligans from throwing missiles such as rocks, stones and even eggs at motorists who are driving along the route beneath the structure.
At this month’s meeting of Kilkenny County Council the members heard that there has been considerable damage done to cars, and motorists have been extremely shaken after the incidents. At least five incidents were recorded at the bridge in recent months and were reported to the gardaí.
CCTV and Garda surveillance has been deployed to the scene in recent times in a bid to curtail the culprits.
Cllr Anne Marie Irish told the members that she, too, had been affected when someone threw a snowball at her car while she was driving.
“It really is a terrifying situation and although you know it is coming, there is nothing you can do to stop it from happening when you are driving along the road below.” She added that she would never drive the route without first checking to see if there was someone lying in wait overhead.
South Kilkenny councillor Fideles Doherty agreed and said, “It’s a very unsavoury situation and anyone can carry a bag of stones and go to the bridge but we can’t access them as we are on the road below.”
The modifications proposed for the bridge have an estimated cost of €175,000 and the National Roads Authority will be funding the project, according to director of services John Mulholland.
Cllr Tom Maher said, “It’s a disgrace that we have to spend this kind of money on preventing people from carrying out criminal damage. Surely it should be easy to monitor this isolated rural area and catch these people in their actions?”
Mr Mulholland outlined the works which would ensure that criminals could not access the bridge to throw objects at moving cars below.
“The works will consist of parapet replacement/modification which will include a caged enclosure or parapet, preventing the culprits from getting close enough to the bridge edge to throw stones. There are similar works taking place on other bridges around the country including Wexford and Fingal and the three projects are to be carried out together,” he said.
The members agreed to enter into a Section 85 agreement with Kildare County Council whereby the council will advertise for a tender and appoint a contractor to complete the project.
