This article is from page 22 of the 2007-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 22 JPG
FAMILIES living in Ivy Hill have described how reckless drivers are causing havoc on roads around the estate.
Resident’s representatives told the July meeting of Ennis Town Council they fear a serious accident is just a matter of time.
Dangerous driving and the width of the roads in the estate were indenti- fied as the main reasons for the high levels of speeding occuring in the estate.
One mother spoke of the worry she felt every time she heard a screech of brakes on the road.
‘You wake up to hear brakes screeching. We are afraid something is going to happen. We don’t want to have to wait for a serious accident to happen before anything is done”’.
The group called on the council to install traffic calming measures to combat the problem. They claimed speed ramps and or traffic islands are the only effective methods to stop speeding drivers.
One resident, Jenny, explained that drivers treat the area like a main road. “There is a very long corner and very long stretch and drivers are coming in here and treating it as a main road. We’re here to say that it is only a small percentage of drivers
that drive badly but there are a lot of young children playing on the road and something needs to be done”.
She added “There are signs up there to say children are playing, but they aren’t making any difference. Coming home from school can be an absolute nightmare with the amount of cars”.
Another resident Kay, described how she had observed a speeding car hit a lampost and spin into a green area before driving away.
She said “There is serious potential there for something to happen up near the hill. People say that speed bumbs cause damage to cars but if you are a serious driver you will drive sensibly
and look after your car”’.
Green party councillor Donal O’Bearra said the problem was widespread in many residential areas around the town.
“It’s a problem that’s going to hap- pen more frequently in many areas in the town especially when you have a lot of people who are driving on the other side of the road. When speed comes into then, it creates a far more dangerous problem”.
Mayor of Ennis, Tommy Brennan told the delegation from Ivy Hill that the council would examine the issue more closely once they had been briefed by Town Engineer Tom Tiernan.