Laois Councillors concerned as cars are ‘becoming airborne’ on local bridge

This is taking treacherous roads to a whole new level.

A Laois councillor has said that locals are used to a “whirr” sound as airborne cars fly over a bridge near Emo.

According to Leinster Express, Cllr PJ Kelly likened a wall near the bridge to a “jigsaw puzzle” as there’s been so much crash damage. He made the comments at the latest meeting of Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District.

Cllr Kelly has suggested “that Laois County Council investigate the possibility of reducing the speed limit from 80 km down to 60 km for 200m either side of Carn Railway Bridge on the Emo/Mountmellick Road as this would reduce the amount of bad accidents that happen there.”

The councillor explained there is a “sharp pinch” on the bridge that causes speeding cars t0 leave the road. There are about six holes in the wall on both the Mountmellick and Emo sides of the bridge, he said.

“When the cars go over that at 80 or over, the car leaves the road for a stretch of yards before it lands again, and there is a slight turn on that bridge. That being the reason then that some of these cars when they land they lose control and they hit the wall on that side,” he told the council meeting.

Other councillors have suggested that their “hands are tied” in terms of changing the speed limit, as the council has previously told they can’t set speed limits. Councillors could, however, have an input when limits were reviewed every five years.

Senior Engineer in the Roads Department, Paul McLoughlin said they would “investigate the matter including the carrying out of a review of the available collision data for this location”.

Header image via Google Maps 

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