Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No. I have a few little ones. Mr. Llewellyn will probably not have this information to hand, but he might be able to help me out. A long-standing project is being worked on by Clare County Council and the TII. It involves a roundabout off the N85 on the approach to Ennis and Clarecastle. It also has linkage to the N67 and the Kilrush road. It is a notorious and very busy roundabout. It is the busiest roundabout in County Clare and is very dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Work has nearly been completed on a greenway that runs along the banks of the River Fergus past the monument at Clareabbey. It is a very good project that will encourage more pedestrian traffic and cyclists in the area. Students travelling from Clarecastle to Ennis have to traverse this roundabout on a daily basis. They are taking their lives in their hands by doing so. This issue has been ongoing for many years. Ideally, it should have been resolved at the design stage of the Ennis bypass and N85 link road. I would like Mr. Llewellyn to raise this matter with the TII and have it brought to a conclusion. A number of submissions have been made by Clare County Council, which has identified a preferred option to rectify the situation. I ask Mr. Llewellyn, as chairperson designate, to take this issue up and bring it to a conclusion.

The other long-standing issue is that of Blake's Corner in a place called Ennistimon in north Clare. Again, it is a very busy junction. An inner relief road on the N67-N85 is proposed, which means a new bridge and new inner relief road will be built in Ennistimon. Two American tourists recently crashed at Blake's Corner. Luckily, they escaped without being hurt, but it demonstrates the problems that are there, including massive traffic congestion throughout the summer because people are going back to attractive tourist resorts, such as Liscannor, Lahinch and, in north Clare, Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher. It is a very busy junction. I would like Mr. Llewellyn to provide an update on that scheme too. I understand that an oral hearing was heard last June at An Bord Pleanála and the inspector has to come back with a report. It is important that that project is driven on, we see it realised and the congestion issues that have been experienced are dealt with.

Deputy Lowry touched on this final issue. Over the past six weeks, there have been a number of road traffic incidents and, sadly, one fatality, on the N18 road that runs from Ennis to Limerick, in particular the section from Bunratty into Limerick. All these accidents involved heavy goods vehicles and massive delays were caused as a result. A person passed away, which is obviously tragic for that individual and his or her family. The delay in trying to get the road reopened, people not knowing what is happening and trying to communicate that to commuters are areas that TII will have to improve upon. Given that there have been a number of these incidents on the N18, has Mr. Llewellyn concerns about this section of road? Why are so many of these accidents happening? Has the TII given any consideration to putting in some remedy to this? I get that Mr. Llewellyn will not be familiar with these projects, but I will be happy if he would come back to me in writing regarding them.