Editorial: Department of Transport must prioritise N25 and tackle mounting fatalities

On the road between Glenmore and Waterford a strikingly lonely image greets passersby. A grass farm field has been dotted with dozens of small, white wooden crosses. Each represents a life lost on this notoriously dangerous stretch of road. Most of these people were local to this area, from villages and townlands between Waterford and New Ross.

Each death has caused a ripple of grief and heartbreak across countless of these communities.

In 40 years, 80 lives have been lost along this stretch of the N25. 

Reporting on road accidents, the N25 comes up again and again, with one of the more recent fatal accidents occurring just outside the popular Rhu Glenn Hotel.

This road, with a 100km per hour speed limit, which connects the Waterford bypass with the New Ross bypass, and which provides the main artery for traffic between Rosslare Europort, Waterford Port, Cork and Kilkenny, has seen a phenomenal 360% increase in traffic in recent years.

While accidents elsewhere often happen in the middle of the night, and not on main roads, it is a regular occurrence to hear of accidents on the N25 during busy daylight and commuting hours.  

The road is now a key routeway for large articulated lorries, tradespeople, hospital traffic, commuters between Waterford, New Ross, Wexford and Kilkenny, and, of course, the people for whom the hinterlands are home.

They are the ones most at risk, having to run the gauntlet of turning across this busy thoroughfare, trying to judge when to join the regularly continuous stream of traffic in either direction. 

The deaths are also only part of the story. Undocumented among the number of white crosses are many, many more who have suffered serious, life-threatening and life-changing injuries in accidents on the N25. 

The stretch of road falls at the edge of three constituencies, making it effectively a no-man's land politically.

This week, refreshingly, there seemed to be somewhat of a turnabout in this regard, with Waterford's David Cullinane and his fellow Dáil and party colleague Natasha Newsome Drennan of Kilkenny both raising the matter during a debate on topical issues in the Dáil.

Describing the road as a “deadly accident hotspot”, Ms Newsome Drennan urged that the matter be addressed by the Minister for Transport.

“We need to see action before any more devastation. Funding needs to be prioritised for this road," she said.

With 15,000 road users on the road each day, she said this went far beyond what is considered safe capacity.

Alongside the politicians, families of the deceased have also started to campaign vociferously - with a public meeting organised to take place at the Rhu Glenn hotel on the matter at 8pm on June 16. 

In the meantime, Transport Infrastructure Ireland have acknowledged local concerns - but they have provided no timeline for addressing the matter, with the glaringly obvious solution - connecting the Waterford and New Ross bypasses with continuous dual carriageway - interminably mothballed. 

"Local residents and local communities are concerned about this stretch of the road. It makes perfect sense from every perspective, economically as well, to link what is the Waterford city bypass and the New Ross bypass," said Deputy Cullinane. “From an economic perspective, it is necessary, but from a road safety perspective, it is absolutely necessary."

Between 2026 and 2030, €4 billion is to become available for national roads, with outstanding projects due to come up for review. 

While the installation of a speed camera on the N25 last week was somewhat helpful, it falls far short of addressing the fundamental issue here - safe drivers forced to contend with an unsafe road.