Seven junctions on lethal stretch of N17 are set to be closed

Seven local roads onto the N17 between Claremorris and Knock are to be closed for safety reasons. 

An eighth road, known in Claremorris as the Bog Road, is to remain open to motorists due to the number of school routes and local traffic it serves.

Mayo Co Council's senior executive engineer Conrad Harley told councillors at last week's meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District that there had been 100 accidents on that particular stretch of road since 2019, including a number of fatal collisions.

Mr Harley said the N17 at Charlestown is statistically one of the safest roads while the N17 outside of Claremorris has one of the highest accident rates in the country and the difference is the number of junctions, which is three times higher in Claremorris than in Charlestown, with one 15km stretch having 30 junctions.

"I am not saying junctions are the cause of every accident but they do add unnecessary confusion to motorists.” 

In tandem with closing access from local roads, a series of upgrades will also take place at the various junctions along the N17, including the installation of new right-hand-turn lanes such as at the Old Knock Road junction, the Golf Club, filling station and Tesco junction.

Mr Harley said the council had received 204 submissions on the road closures, with the vast majority (155) opposing the move.

Cllr Richard Finn said he supported all of the closures apart from the Bog Road, which had been the subject of extensive lobbying.

“This road is local to locals and we as a council also have 28 acres of land in there that was bought for serious money and still not developed. I would think that site deserves access onto the N17."

Cllr Patsy O'Brien said he feared the closures would have a "detrimental impact on the traffic in town". He also asked to keep the Bog Road open. 

Cllr Alma Gallagher said councillors "sometimes have to make very unpopular decisions which can be inconvenient for people".

Cllr Deirdre Lawless said closing junctions won’t solve all issues, but added: “We do have an awful lot of junctions along that stretch of the N17 and need to address it.” 

Clr Gerry Murray said he hoped the changes were not a strategy for delaying an upgrade to the N17.

 “I hope the motorway for Claremorris as part of the Atlantic Corridor will happen in the not-too-distant future and that you are not kicking that down the road. 

Cathaoirleach Cllr Damien Ryan said he also supported Cllr Finn on the Bog Road, adding: “To close a huge number of access points in your area puts great pressure on public representatives. We are being asked to make these decisions within a vacuum as such with GDPR denying statistics and insights into the cause of accidents, but we are here trying to do the right thing."

It was agreed to extinguish the right of way on the proposed junctions bar the L55512 (Bog Road).