Kilkenny Co. Council was urged last week to carry out an immediate safety study on the Tower Junction on the N 24 at Piltown and to hold a public consultation meeting with the local road users to iron out the problems that are causing public concern in the area.

Cllr Pat Dunphy (FG) raised the matter at a meeting of the Piltown Electoral Area Committee of the County Council in Newrath last week. He said there were a lot of complaints about this junction on the Piltown Bypass. The Tower Road was a deadly spot and there had been many minor accidents there. At certain times traffic backed up and as many as 30 vehicles were delayed by high speed traffic from both directions as they tried to get out on the main road. The junction was inadequate and here were ongoing problems

Area Engineer Denis Lawlor said this matter had been brought to the attention of the Road Design Department of the County Council and they in turn had raised the matter with the National Roads Authority.

Complaints were made over the failure to maintain and replace green and white bollards at junctions. Cllr Dunphy said these bollards were very helpful in poor visibility. The bollards had fallen at Rathkieran Junction which was a very dangerous spot and they had not been replaced.

The Area Engineer said that this matter was taken up with the Regional Design Office which had responsibility for the NRA Maintenance Contract. The NRA stated that this issue was part of the next review of signage.