'Old bus shelters should be used as community facilities'

Old bus shelters should be used as community facilities, by Cllr Emily Wallace suggested at the May meeting of Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad. She asked what would happen to the old bus shelters when the new ones came on stream.

There are communities that would be more than happy to re-purpose them, she said. She also asked if there was an opportunity for them to be used by children waiting for school buses.

Cllr Frank McDermott said Delvin Sports and Leisure Centre “would be delighted to relieve you” of a bus shelter.

Deirdre Reilly, director of services, said it was a good idea and the council could consider it, but they would have to look at each location individually. They would have to consider safety and would not want to encourage people to be standing on the side of the road, she said.

Cllr Wallace also called for a pedestrian crossing in the centre of Killucan. She said four roads meet there and cars are parked on both sides of the road.

Cllr Denis Leonard supported the proposal. He said that Killucan needs a whole village traffic management policy that allows for a range of traffic calming measures.

Cllr John Shaw, cathaoirleach of the municipal district, agreed that Killucan needs traffic calming measures, but he was not sure a pedestrian crossing was the answer. He felt it would reduce the number of parking spaces, and that would not be good for local businesses.

Ms Reilly said the council would meet residents and look at a traffic management plan for the area, for consideration in next year’s estimates.