Editorial: Rural community successfully drives safety change on notorious stretch of N25
The 7 minute stretch of road from the Luffany roundabout to Glenmore.
A decision to lower the speed limit on a notorious stretch of the N25, which has seen numerous fatal accidents in recent years, is a welcome and crucial development.
The section of road concerns the 6km from the Luffany roundabout north of Waterford city, near Slieverue, in the direction of Glenmore in Co. Kilkenny. It takes just seven minutes to drive but it has seen immense devastation for families and communities all along the route over the past 20 years.
Locals mounted a high-profile campaign earlier this year, which saw around 500 people attend a public meeting in the Rhu Glenn Hotel, demanding that safety concerns along the very busy national primary road be addressed.
It is estimated that 15,000 vehicles travel along the route on a daily basis.
Emphasising the hurt and trauma endured by the local community over the past two decades, a series of white crosses were erected by campaigners in a field alongside the route, symbolising the fatalities.
While a speed camera was installed at the Glenmore side of the dangerous section of road earlier this year, the move to bring the speed limit down from 100km to 80km an hour was considered imperative and has been welcomed by the N25 Waterford to Glenmore Road Safety Campaign group.
They praised the Garda Síochána, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Kilkenny County Council for their "enormous effort" on the matter.
While the long-term goal is the necessary upgrading of the route, to link both the Waterford and New Ross bypasses, a project that has endured interminable delays, it is heartening to see the local authority in question - Kilkenny County Council - and its councillors move to pass a bylaw reducing the speed limit, recognising and acting upon the fact that the 6km of road features three high collision zones.
The speed reduction cannot undo the devastation of the horrific tragedies that have occurred to date, but it should go a long way to mitigate against future traffic accidents.
It should not take a meeting of 500 people, many of whom were impacted by the deaths on this section of the N25, and countless other serious accidents that resulted in life-changing injuries, to force common sense to be brought to bear.
A proactive approach and timely action should be forthcoming, when it comes to safety on our roads, by all those tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the highest standards of safety for road users.
Unfortunately, it seems, it still requires the rallying cry of a bereft community to bring about change. The N25 Waterford to Glenmore Safety Campaign group must be applauded for calling our national agencies to account, and effectively demanding change be enacted. Many will travel more comfortably and confidently on their way to work, on their way to school, on their way to their farmland, on their way home as a result.
The work of the safety group shows the power that exists when rural communities work together for the betterment of all.
We wish them the very best as they continue their lobby for an N25 that is fully fit for purpose for all road users. The danger has not been removed, it has been mitigated. The campaign continues.
