News
Ambitious €20m project to tackle town’s traffic blackspots

By Sean Moriarty
Close on €20 million has be allocated to seven traffic blackspots in the wider Killarney area and works will be completed in phases over the next few years.
Traffic blackspots included in the funding announced Wednesday, include works on the Madam’s Hill to Cleeny roundabout section of the Tralee Road and the Coolcaslagh junction on the Cork Road.
The seven projects will be completed in a phased basis, and will include provisions for active travel like walking and cycling.
The first of the seven projects, the Gap Road to the Golden Nugget section through Fossa will be unveiled next month or very early next year. This phase will include a new pedestrian crossing in the village and will link with a future project known locally as the Narrow Road near Killea. This section will eventually link with ongoing works in the Killorglin area that will improve active travel arrangements between the two towns.
A deer detection system, similar to one being used in County Laois, is to be trialled at the Ballydowney section of the road.
Closer to town, works on the Madam’s Hill, Ballychasheen and Coolcaslagh junctions have also been included in the plan. The Lewis Road junction realignment is also included but plans for the realignment of the Muckross Road traffic management plan will be announced at a later date.
Elected members of Killarney Municipal District were briefed on the plans by Paul Curry of the Kerry National Road Design Office on Wednesday but he was unable to give an exact date for the start of the projects.
“The foundations are laid for seven projects in the near future,” he told the meeting. “One will be followed by another. The timeline is the near future.”