THE NATIONAL Roads Authority (NRA) is in dispute with residents in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, after it removed a cycle lane and hard shoulder from the old Dublin-Navan road as part of the M3 motorway construction but failed to replace them with walkways.
The move has left up to 10 families and 17 children with no option but to walk on the Tarmac at several roundabouts en-route to school each day from the Trim and Navan approach roads into the Meath village. According to Anne Tuite, who heads up the M3 Roundabouts Action Group, the actions of the NRA have left a fatal accident waiting to happen.
“What we have here is a situation where the NRA dug up a hard shoulder and cycle lane and put down a roundabout, and now residents who want to walk from Cooksland on the Navan side of Dunshaughlin have to walk through a roundabout on the road itself to get to the village.”
The problem has arisen due to the construction of the M3 which will bypass Dunshaughlin and is scheduled to open on June 4th.
Motorists entering the village on the M3 from the Navan/Trim approach roads will have to negotiate roundabouts on the edges of Dunshaughlin.
In a letter to the group some weeks ago, the senior engineer on the motorway, Dave Kelly, said because the roundabouts in question were sited in rural areas, there was no obligation on the NRA to construct walkways.
However, in response to a query by The Irish Times, NRA spokesperson Seán O'Neill indicated that this controversy would be addressed in the coming weeks.
“Constructing footpaths at the roundabouts in question has always been part of the completed M3 mainline motorway construction programme. All the required footpaths will be built. Hopefully, they will be in place by the early opening date of Friday, June 4th, or very soon thereafter.”