This article is from page 35 of the 2008-01-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 35 JPG
CONCERNS for the safety of chil- dren going to school in Parteen have prompted a local councillor to call for agreement from lorry drivers to change traffic movements.
Councillor Cathal Crowe learned for himself what peril children are in going to and from school when he joined Parteen National School as a teacher this year.
“This is the only place in Parteen
where there’s no footpath and it’s a road that is used by trucks serving several companies in Parteen. We talk all the time about childhood obesity and encouraging children to walk and take exercise but it’s just not safe for them to walk on this road,” the councillor said.
Apart from the immediate danger to children. Cars meeting trucks find they have no room to pass each other and at school drop off and collection times, this brings other problems and
Cro ue
“Parents are entitled to get their children to school in safety. And at school times, there can be hold ups anywhere on this road between the school and Larkin’s Cross. The long- term solution is to widen the road but in the meantime, there are things that can be done to make the road safer.”
At a meeting of the Killaloe Area Committee of the council today, Cllr Crow plans to ask the director of services to put a traffic management
plan in place to limit the movement of heavy goods vehicles in both di- rections and to get agreement with all concerned to finance passing bays so that trucks and cars can safely pass each other.
“When the quarries were given planning permission, it was a condi- tion that they put passing bays on the roads. That is what is needed here in the short term, along with restric- tions on two-way traffic,’ Cllr Crowe said.