Birr to Portumna road has 'serious safety concerns'

Fianna Fáil TD, Jackie Cahill has raised what he considers to be ‘very serious road safety concerns’ in relation to the R489, which is the main Portumna to Birr road.

Deputy Cahill highlighted this issue in the Dáil today, and raised the case of local man, Tom Nugent, in Portland, Lorrha, who has to turn off his van every time he exits his property, to try and listen for oncoming traffic, as a bad bend in the road is creating a complete blind spot on the road.

Speaking on this today, Deputy Cahill called for funding to be provided to Tipperary County Council for road safety works, before a serious accident occurs.

He said: “Taoiseach, I want to raise some serious road safety concerns I have in relation to the R489, which is the main Portumna to Birr Road, in the very end of my county. Due to its location on the edge of the constituency, it does not get the funding and attention it deserves.

“Approximately one kilometre from the Ferry Inn, there is a very dangerous bend, outside Tom Nugent’s property in Portland, Lorrha. I went to view this issue with Tom previously and it is a miracle that there hasn’t been a serious accident on this stretch of road to date.”

In describing the very dangerous road layout as it stands, the Government TD continued to state: “There is an entrance out onto this road that is so blind that Tom has to turn off his van every time he wants to pull out onto the road, to try and listen for oncoming traffic.”

Cahill continued: “Local hauliers are complaining also as the road narrows so much at this bad bend, that when two trucks meet, one of them has to drive up on top of the bank and low wall, seriously damaging tyres in the process.

“Taoiseach, I am asking that you engage with Tipperary County Council to secure the required funding to remove the bend on this road. Tom and his neighbour are willing to provide the small bit of land needed to facilitate these road widening works, so a solution is plain and simple to see.

“But we need to secure funding and an agreement with Tipperary County Council to get this road safety works completed, before we are looking at a serious incident”, Cahill concluded.

Deputy Cahill was pleased to welcome the response from An Taoiseach, on the Dáil record, where he committed to raising these serious concerns with the Minister for Transport and officials within the Department of Transport.