Exit from Clonmel housing estates onto busy roundabout is 'extremely dangerous'

Motorists driving out of the Ard Gaoithe and Heywood estates in Clonmel find it “almost impossible” to access the nearby Cashel Road roundabout, such was the heavy volume of traffic coming down Ard Gaoithe Hill, it was stated at a meeting of Clonmel Borough District.

Cllrs Richie Molloy and Michael Murphy requested that the council would assess the roundabout and in particular the exit from those estates.

They said it was also extremely dangerous with traffic approaching from the right, having regard to the limited sightlines.

Cllr Molloy said that this was an ongoing issue and some elderly residents had been involved in a collision there some years ago. It was very difficult to get onto the road when there was a change of shift at the nearby Boston Scientific and Abbott Vascular plants.

Cllr Murphy said he had seen at first hand how difficult it is to drive out of those areas, particularly at peak times when there was a change of shift at Boston Scientific and Abbott Vascular and when children were brought to and collected from school.

The volume and intensity of the traffic coming down the hill was so heavy on one occasion that he had to turn left, drive up the hill to the roundabout and drive back down again.

District Mayor Pat English said a number of measures had been taken by the council in that area over the years but they hadn’t really worked, and he agreed it was time to take another look.

Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said it was very difficult to exit that junction at peak times, and during her time as Mayor she had previously raised this issue with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

In his report to the meeting, District Engineer Roger Noonan said that the council engineers would assess the exits and the roundabout in the coming weeks and provide a detailed response at the next meeting.