Councillors pass motion calling for Rock Road/Sandy Lane safety audit

Councillors at the Dundalk Municipal District December meeting, passed a motion calling on Louth County Council to “organise an Independent Engineers road safety audit and an Independent Engineers opinion of the auto track sweep path analysis carried out at Rock Road/Sandy Lane junction due to town and village funding for footpath upgrade in May 2021.”

Cllr Maeve Yore brought forward the motion to the monthly meeting, which was seconded by Cllr Sean Kelly. The issue being put forward by the councillor, which had already been debated at previous meetings, was that buses and trucks could not make the turn at the junction safely.

Cllr Yore said at the meeting that in her opinion, proper procedures were not followed by Louth County Council in relation to town and village scheme funding, as she was unaware of any local businesses being consultated in relation to the project.

The local councillor said that a grass verge being pulled back by 3 feet would help resolve the issue and that a local bus company serving the area was being adversely affected by the situation as it currently stood.

Director of Services, Paddy Donnelly, who was standing in for Frank Pentony told the meeting that the junction was in accordance with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS) and the professional advice was that it was not unsafe.

The motion was put to a roll call vote, with all councillors present voting for the motion.