Tunnel fails to relieve ‘death trap’ road traffic

RESIDENTS remain under siege on a regional road linking north Tipperary and Limerick despite government assurances the new Shannon Tunnel would improve their quality of life.

Heavy lorries on the narrow R466 — which links the motorway with a River Shannon crossing — have forced parents to keep children indoors, it has been claimed. According to O’Briens bridge Community Group chairman Mick Murtagh, about 60 householders living on the Birdhill to Montpelier road have also lost family pets due to heavy traffic using the non-national road.

Mr Murtagh said the opening of the new€660 million Limerick Tunnel had provided Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary county councils with the perfect opportunity to address a so-called “death trap” by placing traffic restrictions on the route.

“Residents have been forced to keep their children under lock and key and every child’s bike locked in the garage,” he claimed.

“When Taoiseach Brian Cowen opened the Limerick Tunnel he stated the event should improve the quality of life of the people in the region

“Let us hope he also meant the people on the R466 who are under siege on an ongoing basis and who have no quality of life whatsoever,” he said.

The single carriage roadway on the Limerick-Tipperary county bounds is under the jurisdiction of three different local authorities, Mr Murtagh said. He claimed none of the authorities had taken any responsibility for the dangerous traffic conditions on this route.

He suggested a weight restriction should be introduced for heavy goods vehicles crossing the River Shannon at O’Briensbridge.

He said that national and international hauliers could stop using the “notorious rat run” from Birdhill to O’Briensbridge if they used the new tunnel instead.