Roundabout demand for 'deadly dangerous' junction on national road serving Carlow

Mountmellick needs a roundabout at a busy junction on the N80 road to Portlaoise to prevent a serious and potentially fatal road crash, a public representative has insisted.

The junction on Portlaoise Mountmellick N80 serves Carlow, Laois and Offaly

Cllr Paddy Bracken, Fianna Fáil, raised the risk about a junction on a sweeping bend at Derrycloney in a meeting with Laois County Council officials in County Hall Portlaoise.

He tabled a motion calling on the local authority to seek funding through Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) for junction/safety works on the N80 and the junction with the R423 Road at Derrycloney, Mountmellick.

Edmond Kenny, Senior Executive Engineer, replied that the council’s Road Design office will review the safety at the existing junction and will consider options for improving safety at the at this location with TII.

The response didn’t satisfy Cllr Bracken. The town-based representative said he had highlighted the danger with the junction due to the large amount of traffic at the national road junction.

He acknowledged spending on road surfacing in 2022 but said more should have been done for safety at the time.

“It was a missed opportunity to put in some traffic safety…It is lethal there,” he said. 

He said cars turn at the junction to get to Ballyfin but also to access a local road that allows traffic to bypass the town ‘unofficially’.

“The amount of traffic is unbelievable; it is deadly dangerous,” he said.

He proposed a solution to avoid a fatality.

“My fear is that there will be a serious accident. There is room for a roundabout that needs to be lit,” he said.

He was supported by Cllr Ollie Clooney, Independent.

“All junctions are dangerous but this one is very dangerous,” he said.

 The issue was raised at the Borris-in-Ossory Moutmellick Municipal District meeting.