Relief road and crossings planned for Cork town where 10 pedestrians were killed in a decade

Work is progressing on making gridlocked Charleville safer for pedestrians

Main Street, Charleville, Co Cork. File picture: Dan Linehan

Work is progressing on making a gridlocked Co Cork town centre safer for pedestrians, 10 of whom have been killed in little over a decade, while a preferred route for its relief road is likely to be chosen early next year.

Charleville is suffering from extreme traffic jams on most weekdays during rush-hour. In a number of cases over the past decade, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) passing through its main street have knocked down and killed pedestrians who tried to cross in front of them at points where there were no signalised crossings.

County councillors attending a meeting of the Northern Division in Mallow were informed that route options are being identified thanks to TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) funding and feasibility report on a preferred route is likely to emerge early next year.

Sean Callery, a senior official with the council’s Roads and Transportation Directorate, said TII has provided adequate funding to progress route identification for this year and he expects it will do so again next year.

Mr Callery added TII has also provided funding to make the town’s main street safer for pedestrians.

Four pedestrian crossings are being upgraded. The project includes new bus stop locations adjacent to the Bank of Ireland and the installation of the new pedestrian crossing adjacent to the AIB. Mr Callery said: 

The relocation of the northbound and southbound bus stops has been agreed in principle with the NTA [National Transport Authority], Bus Éireann, and TII. 

He said TII approval has also been received to appoint technical advisor to develop the detailed design and construction contract documents for all aspects of the safety improvement project.

Mr Callery added that this tender process has commenced and construction of the new bus stop locations and the new pedestrian crossing by AIB is expected to commence this winter or early next spring.

However, he added that the council had to be “mindful” that any work in the town wouldn’t impact the Christmas shopping period.

Meanwhile, the council is also preparing to build new pedestrian crossings in Buttevant’s main street next year.

Fine Gael councillor Tony O’Shea requested one of them be located near the Centra supermarket as its one of the main places local schoolchildren cross the road.

Increased congestion in Mallow and concerns about pedestrian safety there, especially with a high concentration of HGVs coming through the town centre, was raised by Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden.

He asked council officials to look at diverting HGVs away from the centre via Park Road.