A person should not have to lose their life or be seriously injured at Kilmeen Cross junction before action is taken to fix poor lighting, a Galway TD has said.
Minister Ciaran Cannon said that Transport Infrastructure Ireland must come and view the situation at the junction at night after locals raised concerns with regard to the lighting.
It is currently very difficult for motorists travelling from Loughrea to Portumna to delineate the junction with ease at night because they have nothing but their vehicles headlights.
Minister Cannon said that lighting the junction is a matter of common sense.
The Galway East TD said that he has been engaged in making representations to TII on the issue of the lighting of the Kilmeen Cross junction for some time now.
In his most recent response from the agency, he was informed that Galway County Council’s submission was not approved as it was deemed that a ‘departure from the Standard’ was not warranted.
“I am at a loss to understand this, however, as a document produced by TII in October 2016 states among other points with respect to Approved Departures that ‘Departures are approved on a location-specific basis and relate to the particular circumstances identified in each submission,'” the Fine Gael TD said.
“I am therefore urging TII officials to come out to inspect this junction by night when the problem is most acute and then they can see for themselves why locals are so concerned.”
