‘Emergency meeting’ called on N4 speeding
Speeding on the N4 at Rathowen and Ballinalack is nothing new, but a recent accident in the former village has brought it to the fore, and residents have called an ‘emergency meeting’ to discuss taking action.
Geraldine Connaughton, one of the organisers, told the Westmeath Examiner that local TDs and councillors had been invited, along with council officials.
“What it’s about is to try and get something done in the villages of Rathowen and Ballinalack. I can only speak for Rathowen because I’m involved in RCD (Rathowen Community Development), and the traffic comes through our villages at an unmerciful speed. There’s nothing really to slow traffic. There are the islands in both villages, but the traffic is not slowing down.”
Ms Connaughton said the high speed accident two weeks ago has left people in the village traumatised; she said the meeting was not about a blame game, and everyone is relieved that there were no fatalities, but people “want something done”.
Part of the reason for the meeting is to find out more about who has responsibility for the N4, and whether and how it is shared between the county council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
An issue that arises for people living in the area of Rathowen and Ballinalack is that ‘their’ council officials are based in Athlone, and that complication arose again in the aftermath of the recent accident.
Ms Connaughton said: “It’s a scandal that if we need a dog warden, we have to go to Athlone, and after that crash, we had to wait for the council to come from Athlone to clear our road.” As well as the delay for that, the traffic diversions and other arrangements were complicated as the council workers who attended did not have intimate knowledge of local roads. “It was bedlam” for hours in the day following the accident.
Ms Connaughton said everyone in the area had high praise for the council crews, and the emergency workers, including the gardaí, who dealt with the accident and its aftermath.
In the context of the meeting being called, she said no one is looking to apportion blame, but the collective trauma from the recent accident lingers, and they are now taking action.
“Something definitely has to be done, and we want to get our villages back into Mullingar – or Longford – but not down in Athlone, where they don’t even know where Rathowen and Ballinalack are.”
• The meeting is public and it takes place at Rathowen Community Hall on Wednesday April 16 at 8pm.