No footpath on 'dangerous' Portlaoise road getting a new secondary school
The road in Portlaoise where a new 1,000 pupil secondary school is about to be built, has no footpath yet.
Laois County Council says there is no money to build what would be a long path for the Timahoe and Meelick roads, but will keep looking for a source of funding.
The roads are on the south side of Portlaoise town, between it and the M7 motorway, linking over to the Abbeyleix road.
The Dunamase College main entrance will be off the R426 Timahoe Road. Permission was granted last January for the major project. A footpath on the road ends just before the site of the school.
Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald has described the area as “extremely dangerous” for pedestrians.
She says residents have to get in their cars to get into town, instead of taking what would be a ten minute walk.
She tabled a motion asking for “long overdue” footpaths on the Timahoe Road and the Meelick Road, to the May meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District.
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“This is an area not a stone’s throw from the town centre. Another new school is going up. People have to get their cars out. It would take them less than 10 minutes to walk but it’s too dangerous.
“All the people on the Meelick Road and Timahoe Road have been very patient. They cannot go outside to walk. I’m asking for the council to find funding anywhere.
“There’s a lovely new path on the Abbeyleix Road and the link road. There should be a path and a cycle lane from the Abbeyleix Road down the Meelick and Timahoe roads.
“We’ll have a few thousand schoolchildren on that road in a year or two and there’s no path.
“This is the one area of town left. It never had a path. One man told me when he was a child there was a path from Sheffield into Portlaoise. Now with all the schools and the shops, it’s extremely dangerous,” she said.
In reply Portlaoise MD office said that the council does support active travel and “acknowledges the appetite among residents in the Meelick/Timahoe road area to walk and cycle to schools, recreational facilities and Portlaoise town centre”.
“The lands adjoining the R426 Timahoe Road are generally zoned for General Business and it is anticipaled that sections of footpath and cycle infrastructure may delivered incrementally over time as part of future commercial, retail, residential or amenity developments.
“At present there is no identified funding mechanism available to deliver infrastructure of this scale. The council will however continue to examine any future funding opportunities that may arise,” the Portlaoise MD said in reply to Cllr Fitzgerald’s motion.