Council official ‘nearly run over’ at Louth junction highlighted for safety concerns
A Louth County Council official working on Active Travel projects was “nearly run over” at a busy Dundalk junction where long‑standing calls for safety measures have been made, a councillor has claimed.
The incident was raised at the March meeting of Dundalk Municipal District, where Cllr. Ciaran Fisher urged the council to use a portion of its reduced Active Travel allocation to deliver priority safety works while larger schemes remain stalled.
Cllr Fisher warned that the pace of improvement works across the county had become so slow that many long‑requested upgrades risked being pushed back for decades.
“I think we have over twenty locations on the Active Travel list. Time and time again we suggest an upgrade on many of these roads,” he said. “We are told they could be part of an Active Travel consideration, but some of these roads might not be touched until the next century at the current rate of delivery.”
He welcomed renewed attention on safety concerns at the St Helena junction — one of the busiest crossing points along the Inner Relief Road — and said the risks were well‑known.
“I have it on good authority that our head of Active Travel nearly got run over there recently,” he told the meeting.
Cllr Fisher said there was an “absolute need” for a safe public crossing between the Spirit Store and St Helena, an area frequently used by pedestrians of all ages.
Responding, Senior Engineer John O’Hagan said the council is working to advance a number of Active Travel schemes to the planning stage, noting that planning remains the most time‑consuming part of delivering any major project.
However, he cautioned that the council is operating with limited funding and that not all proposed schemes can be progressed within current allocations.