Report on 'major accident blackspot' in County Roscommon slammed

A local councillor has slammed a report by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) which has not classified Scramogue Cross as a “high collision location”.

In a notice of motion tabled at the November plenary meeting of Roscommon County Council, Independent councillor Tom Crosby proposed that the local authority make an urgent submission to TII seeking immediate and comprehensive safety measures at Scramogue Crossroads.

Cllr Crosby said this dangerous junction, where the R371 crosses the N5, was widely recognised as a “major accident blackspot with fatalities, serious injuries and collisions over the years”. He said there was inadequate signage, road markings, and no public lighting at this location, making it especially dangerous at night.

“With the new N5 bypass due to open within 12 months and traffic expected to increase significantly, urgent action is required to prevent further loss of life,” his notice of motion stated.

A formal council response stated that TII’s analysis of the available collision data (2014 to 2024 inclusive) did not indicate a frequency of collisions to warrant the crossroads classification as a high collision location. The response also noted that the provision of public lighting at this location was also not warranted “given that the improved junction geometry at this location will comply with all relevant TII standards.” 

Independent councillor Tom Crosby said he didn’t accept the TII’s response.

“The report here is the most disappointing report for such a serious issue in my 35 years as a county councillor. I know it’s coming off the back of the TII survey. Clearly, it’s a juvenile that did the survey,” he said, adding that Scramogue Cross is not even mentioned by name in the TII report.

Cllr Crosby noted that only in the last three months, a serious accident at the crossroads led to the fatality of an elderly woman while another elderly  person sustained life changing injuries. He said there was another accident at the crossroads only a number of weeks ago where a driver was hospitalised.

“Are we going to sit back and allow the TII to dictate, send down some juvenile and put a report like that together,” said the Tarmonbarry based councillor. “Well as I a public representative will certainly not accept that. I think it is an absolute disgrace – no public lighting at this junction or proper signage.

Cllr Crosby proposed that a senior TII executive would carry out a “proper study” and proper funding be allocated for lighting and signage at the location.

Independent councillor Valerie Byrne said this issue had been raised many times over the years. “We need work done there immediately. A life has been lost and no money covers that. There will be more traffic when the N5 opens and we need this junction sorted,” he said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Sean Moylan described the situation as a “scandal." He said the necessary safety measures had to be put in place, whether it was a roundabout, a solid island or a better stagger.

“I think it’s a disgrace that the TII didn’t give us more or a serious and more respectful answer to this question,” said Cllr Moylan.

Independent councillor Micheál Frain said in his role in the fire service, he had unfortunately been in the position of being at a lot of incidents over the years “and it’s never easy”.

“There are a number of junctions that really jump out at you and the one at Scramogue has become notorious over the last few years. I would like to ask why this area hasn’t been graded as a high risk area within TII’s own internal documentation because that will dictate where funding goes. The number of fatalities in this county. I think it’s the second highest per capita for road fatalities. It is our duty as elected representatives to protect our citizens, particularly the vulnerable and the aged,” said Cllr Frain.

Sinn Féin councillor Leah Cull described the TII report as “very robotic” on an issue that was very sensitive. “It’s deeply upsetting to be honest. You’d swear that we were asking to reinvent the wheel. We’re looking for very basic safety measures here which at the end of the day is going to help save lives and the TII should do better,” she said.

Cathaoirleach, Cllr Liam Callaghan said that with the new N5 and the connection into it, there was one chance to get this junction right and one chance to make sure it was done properly and safely. “It’s up to the TII and the road builders to come up with a solution to make this junction safe once and for all,” he said.

Director of Services Mark Keaveney said the local authority and all the engineers in the road section were fully behind improving all junctions and roads in the county and advocated for that on an ongoing basis.

Cllr Crosby agreed with Fianna Fáil councillor Marty McDermott to send down the CEO or a senior figure from TII to address the meeting to explain the report to elected members.