€525k allocated for N25 accident blackspot works
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has allocated €525,000 to Waterford Council to help render safe the N25 crossroad junction at Cushcam Cross, near Dungarvan.
The turn-off, on the main Cork-Waterford route, has been the scene of several fatalities and numerous collisions over the years.
An estimated 1,700 vehicles traverse the junction daily and lobbyists blame a combination of poor sightlines, a heavy volume of traffic and speeding for its infamous reputation.
The junction provides access to a national school and the busy Dungarvan suburb of Ballinroad on one side and also to the wider rural hinterland.
The location features in a list of Ireland’s ‘50 most dangerous bends’ compiled by TII’s predecessor, the NRA.
In 2015, a national rating that measures collision rates historically found Cuschcam was 0.27, compared to 0.09 for the N25 as a whole and 0.1 nationally.
The speed limit on the junction approach was further restricted in 2005 but failed to reduce the number of accidents, which included right and left turns in each direction, rear-ending, and side impacts.
TII, in recent years, suggested closing off the junction entirely but reconsidered amid public concerns it move would cause problems elsewhere.
Senior engineer for roads in Waterford, Gabriel Hynes, told a Dungarvan-Lismore municipal district meeting the works will include widening the N25 to provide for a right turning lane for traffic from the Dungarvan approach, and re-alignment of local roads to provide increased curvature for traffic turning left from the Waterford approach. Statutory processes, he said, would determine the start date.
