Bypass focus: Popular bar and restaurant may have to close food trade by the end of the year

The owner of a popular bar and restaurant in Frenchpark has warned he may be forced to close his food trade by the end of the year. His food trade has, he says, already fallen by up to 50% following the opening of the new bypass.

Brian McCrann, proprietor of Into The West at Sheepwalk, has blamed poor junction design, lack of signage, and reduced passing traffic for the sharp decline. He said the changes have “killed” a large portion of his food business, particularly the passing trade that once made up the majority of his food sales.

“I would have got 60, 70% of my food trade as passing trade but up to 50% of it is now gone,” he explained.

While his bar trade remains steady due to loyal local customers, Mr McCrann said the long-term viability of serving food is now in doubt. “Towards the back end of the year, I may have to stop the food side of the business,” he said, citing rising running costs and falling footfall.

He pointed to electric bills alone for his business amounting to “nearly three grand a month.”

Mr McCrann pointed to the layout of the new nearby Sheepwalk junction as the single biggest issue, particularly for traffic coming from the Ballaghaderreen direction.

“You can’t get off the bypass here… it’s an awful bad plan. There’s no filter lane, just a small little hard shoulder. Drivers only see the turn-off when they are on top of it. This leads to traffic backing up and discouraging vehicles from turning off towards Frenchpark,” he said.

He described the Sheepwalk junction as “shockingly tight” for large vehicles, despite there being plenty of space available to put in a wider junction. He added that many drivers are now bypassing the area altogether. “We’ve a lot of people missing our place because of that,” he said.

Another concern is the lack of signage promoting local businesses near the junction, with existing signs directing drivers instead towards a main roundabout further along the bypass leading to the village.

He also criticised what he sees as the lack of consultation with business owners, despite the financial impact. “We’re good rate payers and they never consulted with us… they just went and done what they had to do.” 

His premises is well-equipped to cater for truck drivers with ample and secure parking provision, lighting, and showers, and has been a popular truck stop for many years.

Mr McCrann is now calling for urgent changes, including widening the junction and installing proper signage. He warned that the wider impact could be felt across the Frenchpark area if businesses continue to suffer.

“I’ve paid a lot of rates to the council for the last 27 years and we’re paying rates in that place every month. If this business closed… that’s not good for the area either,” he said.

Trade in Frenchpark ‘down 70%’, council is told

Some local businesses in Frenchpark are “down 70%” since the new bypass opened last month, a meeting of Roscommon County Council was told recently.

Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam Callaghan, said that local businesses were finding it challenging as a consequence of the new bypass. “Some people are saying that their business has gone down by 70% and they have an issue with the turn-off at Portahard (Sheepwalk),” he said.

Describing that junction onto the new bypass as “quite dangerous”, Cllr Callaghan said that motorists could come on it “quite quickly” and there was no roundabout there, unlike the other Frenchpark exit.

During his contribution, he also suggested the installation of signage which could help promote businesses in Frenchpark.

“A lot of businesses are losing out, and I think that we should try and offer some offer awareness to the passing traffic,” he said.

Director of Services Mark Keaveney said he would highlight these issues, including the concerns about the junction, with the National Roads Office, but noted that plans for the N5 had been approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála “It has gone through a process and is TII funded so changes at this stage are probably unlikely,” he said.

Speaking to the Herald, Cllr Callaghan said there was a filter lane in place for the bypass going in the Frenchpark/Ballaghaderreen direction but not the other way.

He suggested that if the old road “cannot be kept in play” that a filter lane at the Portahard junction, which he said was “not well flagged”, be put in place for traffic coming from Ballaghaderreen towards the junction.

Cllr Callaghan also pointed out that the section of road between Ballinagare and Frenchpark on the old N5 is closed for realignment works but will reopen eventually.

The Frenchpark bypass, comprising a 7km section of the new N5 road, was officially opened on March 26th by Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien.

This section, bypassing Frenchpark village and Sheepwalk, is predicted to remove up to 70% of through traffic from the village.

The bypass is part of 34km of road being built between the Ballaghaderreen bypass and Scramogue. When complete, the new N5 road will also bypass Ballinagare, Tulsk and Strokestown.