Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I have been asked to confirm this but, as far as I am aware, as regards the towns of Elphin and Strokestown - the latter is along the N5 while Elphin is just off it but the new road means it will now be quite close to the N5 - there will be active money for footpaths and cycle lanes. That has been confirmed in the new proposal.

As regards that road, the representatives are probably well aware of the Scramoge road junction on the N5 between Scramoge and Strokestown. It is a major junction with traffic coming from the Carrick-on-Shannon side. It cuts across the main road there and is a very serious junction. That traffic continues to Ballyleague-Lanesborough on the Roscommon-Longford border. A lot of it heads across to Kilteeven onto the N63, the Athlone to Roscommon road, which is a type of shortcut. There has been a debate about lighting that junction for years. An argument went on for years that the ducting was in the ground when it was not. It can now be safely said that the ducting is not in the ground. I ask the TII to do everything it can to try to get public lighting at that cross. It is a major area that is very confusing at night. There have been accidents there. It really needs to be lit up. I am not talking about a massive, expansive lighting programme. Ten or 12 lights could do a lot on it. That junction will now change because the bypass will come out there at Scramoge. It is very important lighting is built into it. I do not think it is built in at present. The witnesses might check that for me.

I will raise the matter of the old N5 road outside Strokestown. The representatives will probably not know the townland, which is called Cloonfree. There is a terrible record of death and injury on it. We lost two people on that road, unfortunately, in 2023. I always say there is one great solution to those very acute bends and, in this instance, we are dealing with an acute bend. Some people say there is a camber on that road. I am not an expert in that area and I do not know. Again, however, the great solution to all those sort of issues with acute bends, where there are accidents, is a flashing light, which tells people to slow down. It is so effective. As people come into Strokestown from the Dublin road, where the old football field used to be, at a place known as the Turn of Farn, one of those lights was put up a number of years ago on the Dublin side of that. It made a massive change but people still crashed coming from the Strokestown side. We campaigned for a long time to get a light on that side, which has been done now. A lot more work has been done on that bend, which is having a very positive effect. I ask the witnesses to bring it back that the light should be put in. I accept it will not be as big a problem when the new road will be there, but there will still be a lot of traffic on that road. It is a problem. The records to date show it has been bad.

I will briefly mention the N63 Athlone to Roscommon road, which goes on to Boyle. That has been pushed back down the road for development - excuse the pun. It should be borne in mind that a lot of the traffic on that route is going between Donegal and Wexford. That is the type of cross-country way it goes. The upgrading of that road has always been on the agenda. It would appear that has been pushed back. I do not have the full details but there is talk about a new road development, regardless of what way it will come out at Athlone, going by Edgeworthstown, County Longford, which, again, is not the way to go. I am sure the witnesses know the N63 road from Athlone to Roscommon, which includes the highly populated area of south Roscommon. There are schools, businesses and churches. It is an extremely busy road. Along the entrance to the Hudson Bay Hotel, which is one very well-known landmark there, there is an 80 km/h speed limit, as far as I know. That road needs to get back on the agenda and needs to go back to where it was.