Delays on Kilmacrennan ‘deathtrap’ are ‘past a joke’

Donegal County Council has been urged to carry out an independent investigation into an accident blackspot in Kilmacrennan.

There have been repeated calls for traffic calming measures on the four-way junction on the village’s main street.

Councillor John O’Donnell repeated his plea at this week’s meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford MD, saying that the situation has “gone past a joke.”

Emergency services attended another accident at the junction last Friday morning.

“We can't sit back and wait until someone is seriously injured or fatally injured,” Councillor O’Donnell told the council.

Meanwhile, Donegal County Council is continuing consultation with the TII regarding a safety scheme.

Councillor O’Donnell said there’s no time to waste.

“I'm fed up waiting on the TII,” he said, adding that constituents have been calling for works for the past nine years.

He said he believed that locals would support a four way traffic light system. It was agreed that lights would have to be installed further back from the junction due to the gradient of the approaching hill.

Councillor Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly, speaking in support of the motion said the junction “is a deathtrap”.

“It’s nearly a case where you bless yourself, close your eyes and hope for the best. It's a blind spot coming down the hill," he said.

Donegal County Council Area Manager David McIlwaine said that the council appreciates how dangerous the junction is, and that there are a number of issues to consider including sight lines, vision lines onto the N56, the speed of traffic and the gradient of the hill.

Councillors were told that the Road Safety Engineer has carried out an investigation of the location and the design of a signing and lining enhancement scheme will be completed this week and the works programme will be carried out as soon as possible.