Bus stop needed for 115 route in Kinnegad: Leonard

The need for a bus stop at Mullingar Road, Kinnegad, for passengers using the 115 service was raised by Cllr Denis Leonard at the February meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

“The location is in the middle of the seven estates which represent 80pc of the Kinnegad population,” the text of Cllr Leonard’s motion stated.

“It’s a lopsided town,” he told officials as he spoke on the motion, stating that the main street was not the geographic centre. “Everything is basically west of it,” he explained, adding that 2,000 people live in the Mullingar Road area, and that the only areas in which Kinnegad can expand are out that road or out the Killucan direction.

“So I think we need to sit down with the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann and look at whether there are areas there that could be used for an extra bus stop because currently if you live in to Tircroghan, or Manorfield or wherever else, you have a good 10 or 15 minute walk, maybe in the rain, to the centre of town.”

Continuing with his point, he explained to officials that the Route 115 bus comes in from Coralstown, “and could easily stop outside six or eight of the largest estates and pick up people”.

The mayor, Cllr John Shaw, supported Cllr Leonard’s motion, saying the points raised made perfect sense.

The official reply provided to Cllr Leonard stated that if members were in agreement, the district would write to the National Transport Agency requesting that a bus stop be examined for that location.