Hard shoulders get cold shoulder

Councillors are demanding hard shoulders on the new Virginia bypass.

The demand was made as part of a general call for authorities to revise standards to ensure breakdown lanes are provided on all newly realigned national routes.

A key commitment for the region under the Government’s Ireland 2040 plan, Virginia is the last remaining town on the N3 connecting Dublin to the Border with Northern Ireland not yet bypassed.

Expected to go to planning before the end of the year, a concern remains that hard-shoulders will not be included, as has been the case on some other recently opened routes such as the N55 Realignment Scheme.

The discussion at the February monthly meeting of Cavan County Council was sparked by a motion tabled by Cllr John Paul Feeley.

The Fianna Fáil representative opened with a reference to the N16 East-West link, connecting Blacklion to Sligo. He said that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), under whose remit national road design falls, needs to reassess the need for hard-shoulders on roadsides.

Without them, motorists are left with little or no room to manoeuvre should an issue arise.

“It’s not future proof” either, argued Cllr Feeley, who said that road designers nationally are so fixated on installing cycle lanes that they’ve forgotten about the basics.

“Cycle lanes and footpaths are all great but I just think there is a need for everyone, including TII, to look at current standards.”

His motion was supported by party colleague Philip Brady who flagged the lack of pull-in areas on the newly realigned section of road between Ballinagh and Killydoon. There is equally a shortage of space for buses to pull in.

“It’s so dangerous,” he remarked.

Fine Gael’s Trevor Smith also contributed to the debate, as did Winston Bennett who posed the question in relation to the Virginia bypass.

“It beggars belief,” he said in reference to the possibility there might not be pull-in areas given the level of traffic on the N3.

Cathaoirleach T.P. O’Reilly (FG) suggested that it would be essential. “If not a hard-shoulder there needs to be a lay-by at least,” he said

Director of Services, Paddy Connaughton, explained that hard-shoulders are included in design only where they are required under specific “criteria” set out by TII.

Those include traffic volume, cost and the wider environmental impact.