More road barriers needed at Glan Gap

Issues of driver safety at Glan Gap were raised at the November meeting of the Cavan Belturbet Municipal District.

Tabling the motion Fianna Fáil Councillor John Paul Feeley highlighted dangerous sections of the R200.

He explained how, a number of years ago, safety barriers were installed on parts of the road at the top of the gap.

Cllr Feeley believes this substantially reduced the risk to road users. However, he says other stretches of the road require the same attention.

He highlighted how traffic will be increasing on the road given the expansion of the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark.

The Blacklion native outlined how, in the area of Gilvanny, “there is no signage on the road whatsoever”.

“It’s a relatively short section,” he said, insisting “safety barriers of some sort” need to be installed.

Fine Gael Councillor Peter McVitty supported the motion. “We’re lucky no one hit them,” he said, referring to the barriers already installed.

“They say they [barriers] narrow the road,” continued Cllr McVitty, adding that they also slow down motorists, which is a positive.

“Something should be done,” he concluded in relation to the others stretches of road. Councillors Áine Smith (FF) and Brendan Fay (Ind) also supported the motion.

Senior Executive Engineer Paul Mulligan agreed with the councillors. Due to planned work at the Shannon Pot, he said the council needs to look at the road “as a whole”. However, he felt that a safety barrier would be a good short-term solution.

When the group asked if there was a timeframe in place for works to commence on the road, Mr Mulligan stated there was not.