Louth’s largest ‘Safe Routes to School’ project finally gets underway

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

The largest ‘Safe Routes to School’ project in County Louth is finally underway at Bellurgan N.S following years of campaigning by parents and the local community.

Speaking at the January meeting of Dundalk Municipal District, Cllr. Antoin Watters said he was “delighted to see the project is started, it took a long time to get to where it is, and I want to thank the council for the work they have done.”

Protests led by the school community and local residents began a number of years ago, and resulted in a demonstration outside Dundalk Town Hall, where calls for road safety measures had been echoed.

A range of measures are now set to be introduced outside the school to improve safety for children and parents, including raised pedestrian crossings, a push button crossing and speed cushions to slow down passing traffic.

Cllr. Watters said the beginning of works had been greatly welcomed, but warned that as it is expected to take between sixteen and twenty weeks the council should inform the public of potential disruption “as it is the busiest road into the Cooley Peninsula and there is going to be a lot of traffic congestion.”

Motorists are advised that temporary traffic lights and road traffic controls are likely to be in place during the works along the main road between Dundalk and Carlingford.

Cllr. Shane McGuinness also spoke at the Dundalk Municipal meeting, where he asked for an update on the Safe Routes to School project for Knockbridge.

He said he had received queries about when works would start..

Patrick Callan, Executive Engineer at Louth County Council said the Knockbridge scheme will be done in tandem with the Bellurgan school project.

He didn’t have a start date for Knockbridge school, but added that once the contractor is finished in Bellurgan, it should get underway.