Harbour Street 'ignored for years'
The Harbour Street area has been “ignored” by Westmeath County Council for years and is in urgent need of a revamp to improve road safety.
That's according to well-known resident Terry Toal who, in a letter to the Westmeath Examiner, urged the local authority to work with people living and working on the street to address a range of issues first highlighted in a lengthy report he submitted to the council over a decade ago.
Mr Toal wrote to the paper following comments by Cllr Aoife Davitt at a recent meeting calling for traffic calming measures to be installed on the street.
“There are many issues in Harbour Street ignored by the council for the last 10 years despite the best efforts of the local community,” Mr Toal stated.
“The speeding highlighted by Cllr Davitt has a number of root causes: bad signage and legibility. If spaces become more legible with striking road markings, the sense of security and respect for others is a natural progression. There are circa 50 poles in Harbour Street of all shapes and sizes and age, jumbled together in no obvious plan...
“A recent report highlighted that bad signage contributed 60 per cent to driver confusion.”
Mr Toal believes that the installation of a cycle lane would improve road safety.
"As a busy school thoroughfare, a cycle lane, I feel, is critical to safety and should take cyclists off the footpaths where they are illegal and a danger to pedestrians and the residents.
“Cycle lanes are a traffic calmer in themselves and should give cyclists their space on the road, where they currently see nothing but danger.
“As regards E-scooters, they are a further contributor to danger, for themselves and others.”
The main cause of the recent “escalation in speed and danger” on Harbour Street, Mr Toal says, was the removal of a pedestrian crossing near the entrance to the Harbour Place Shopping Centre.
“Replacement of that pedestrian crossing, plus hump, and maybe even another one further up the street at Presentation would add greatly to safety and speed reduction. “
Mr Toal says that “a fundamental review of signage/legibility is a must, as is an immediate repainting of the faded junction road markings”.
Work with residents
“It would be brilliant if the council would work with the residents as requested in the 2013 submission... to see what modern twist could be brought to the table including replacing the disgraceful ‘temporary’ tarmacadam footpaths, with some colour and low landscaping, and not be an embarrassment to the town, as we await 500,000 visitors for the second year,” he said.