LETHAL JUNCTION: Barronstown Cross changes are still ‘months away’

There is still no clear timeline for the works needed to Barronstown Cross junction outside Tipperary Town. The junction has been a source of concern, worry and anger for residents of the area for some time. The busy and problematic junction was discussed at the March meeting of the Tipperary/Cahir/Cashel Municipal District. The issue had been raised at the February meeting as well to much lengthy debate where the road was described as “lethal” for road users.

This time around Councillor Mary Hanna requested an update relating to the safety audit Oliver Tierney recently committed to carrying out at the dangerous junction. She pointed out that she had been on the road a lot recently and saw that some works or assessments were being carried out: “I was driving on that road a few times last week and I saw people which I hoped were doing checks,” said Cllr Hanna.

The meeting heard from the council representative that no confirmation could be given that “works” were being carried out at the junction but that the council representative “had been in contact with the TII”.

The meeting was informed that Transport Infrastructure Ireland are looking to do some additional work at the junction.
The councillors heard that the capital officer of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, as well as the regional roads safety engineer have access to data from 2016 to 2020 which identified three accidents at the junction, one of which related to the garda report to “poor sight distances”.

In response to the update Councillor Roger Kennedy asked if the Garda report from 2021 and 2022 could be accessed to show that issues are ongoing. He also pointed out that there was a serious injury to a person there that was involved in a traffic accident within that time frame. In response, Cllr Kennedy was told that the 2021 and 2022 reports wouldn't be available for two to three months.

Councillor Mary Hanna said she hoped Transport Infrastructure Ireland weren't going on Garda reports alone to assess the situation at the junction and asked: “Are they actually going to carry out a safety audit? Were they not the people I saw there last week?" she enquired in her quest for answers to find out who it was that she saw at the junction when she was driving past it. 

Council representative James Swords said in response: “I don’t know. I don’t know for certain on that but the indication I have on that is that the safety audit will be done,” he said before adding: “I would imagine the Garda report will also feed into any report that is being prepared,” he said.