By Sean Moriarty

Works to enhance safety measures on a busy street that is home to four Killarney schools will commence during the summer holidays.

The area - which includes St Brendan’s College, Killarney Community College, The Mon and the Mercy - is a well-known traffic pinch point in the town, especially at school drop off and collection times.

A long term €100,000 plan to alleviate some of the congestion in the area is in the pipeline. This includes the widening of the Rock Road junction by extending into the Garda station’s garden. This part of the plan is subject to Office of Public Works approval.

However, the first phase of works will start this summer.

New Road is one of 47 road projects and schemes in Kerry that will benefit from the €30,950,225 investment announced this week by the Department of Transport.

The money will be spent on a new pedestrian crossing at the Bishop’s Path exit of St Brendan’s College and the widening of the exiting crossing near the Garda station.

Cllr Brendan Cronin has been pushing for safety upgrades on New Road for years.

During his time as mayor two years ago, he chaired several meetings with stakeholders, including school principals, school bus operators and Gardai.

“I got confirmation from the town engineer that the new crossing will be built during the school holiday,” Cllr Cronin told the Killarney Advertiser.

“This new funding will cover the cost of these works. The existing crossing is to be made wider because it is too narrow for the volume of kids using it. This will bring it up to modern safety standards.”