Plans to move monument from 'death trap' Mayo junction

Early design-stage plans are in place to move a monument from the roadside at a junction along the N17, which has been branded a “death trap” for road users who stop and pull in to take look at it.

Cllr John Caulfield revealed the plans at the September meeting of the Claremorris and Swinford Municipal District while discussing a safety review of the N17 between Knock and Charlestown, where councillors raised concerns about several dangerous junctions.

The East Mayo Brigade Monument is located at the Cloonturk junction, where the N17 meets the road at Kiltimagh.

Cllr Caulfield said the issue of implementing safety measures at various junctions along the N17 had been raised at his first meeting as a councillor in 2014, specifically in relation to the Cloonturk junction.

He confirmed that early design-stage plans are now in place to move the monument, with the plans expected to go on public display shortly.

However, he said there were complexities involved, including the need to relocate a bus stop.

Cllr Adrian Forkan added that implementing safety measures at the Cloonturk junction could not be delayed “for the sake of a monument”.

“The more highlighting this gets, the better,” he said. “There has to be action on this. That Cloonturk/Kiltimagh turn-off is absolutely lethal. 

“It would be a fantastic structure in Kilkelly, where you could park your car and look at it and give the monument its due.

“But out of the side of the road where there is no room for anyone to go out there, it is an absolute death trap, and anyone that does is taking their life into their own hands," he added.

Cllr Forkan said the Cloonturk junction should be “the first one to be sorted out”.

“A cousin of my own lost her life there last year, where she was rear-ended at that junction. Something has to be done. It's not that people will be killed, it's that people have been killed,” he remarked.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.