Lorries coming off road prompts call for N62 upgrade between Athlone and Ballinahown
A local councillor has called for an upgrade of the N62 between Athlone and Ballinahown after a number of recent accidents in which heavy goods vehicles came off the road.
"Two 'artics' have come off that road within the last two months. And it wasn't because they were bad drivers, it's because of the nature of the road," said Cllr John Dolan.
"One little slip, a couple of inches wrong, in an artic lorry, and you're gone."
Cllr Dolan raised the issue in a motion at Monday's meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District. He mentioned that one of the recent incidents, which took place on the N62 at Kilgarvan in January, resulted in a communications pole being damaged and the road being closed for a time.
The truck in question pulled in to let another vehicle pass, but when its wheels connected with the soft verge it tumbled and landed on its side in a field.
"It was a bread lorry. People didn't have 'today's bread today' on that occasion, because it was tied up for quite a while," said Cllr Dolan, who added that the driver in question was lucky to have escaped injury.
"Another lorry went into the ditch and, I don't know how he managed it, but he got the lorry back out onto the road."
Cllr Dolan acknowledged that the upgrading of the road was a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), but he said there was "a major safety issue there" at present, and it was the duty of the council in the first instance to make the case for the upgrade work to be carried out.
"I live on the N62 myself, and at one stage we had a group there that did a traffic count in 2004. At that time, over 4,000 vehicles passed in twelve hours, and I'd say it's a lot busier now.
"Since then the pavement has improved, in fairness, but the width of the road hasn't.
"We've had several instances where 'artics' have met and they've damaged their wing mirrors, they're that close. Bar going into the ditch, that's what you're dealing with."
The current Athlone Mayor, Cllr Louise Heavin, said she was "supportive of looking at any road that's causing safety issues, particularly one that goes through one of the most desirable villages in our district".
She seconded Cllr Dolan's motion, saying she would favour an upgrade of the existing road, rather than the construction of a new road.
It was agreed that the Athlone Moate Municipal District would write a letter to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) requesting an upgrade of the road in order to address the concerns raised.