Kildare Co Council has been urged to install a pedestrian crossing on the Green Road in Newbridge.

That call came from Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer at Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District’s March meeting.

She was told that this crossing formed part of the original National Transport Authority  (NTA) works on that road, ‘however as funding has been reduced, at present there is no funding available for your request.’

Cllr O’Dwyer noted that the road is at the Moorefield junction and recently had substantial works done. She said it leads to a number of educational campuses and houses and there is no safe pedestrian crossing.

The meeting heard that in 2022 the council got monies from the NTA, but in 2023 they got no allocation for that project. The works aren’t completed but they don’t have an external source of funding to complete them.

It was noted that the works, besides the crossing, will have to be completed, with €250-300,000 needed to finish the works.

Cllr O’Dwyer reiterated that there is no safe way to cross the road and the meeting subsequently heard that the project could be considered for a reallocation of resources should they become available.

Cllr O’Dwyer separately looked for the installation of a green filter light as part of the traffic lights at Moorefield junction and the Morristown junction in Newbridge.

Regarding the latter, a report stated that there is a right-hand filter arrow and lane provided on the northern and western approach to this junction. It added that there is not ‘sufficient’ road width to provide filter lanes with green filter arrows on the southern and eastern approaches.

On the former, it was noted that a right hand filter arrow is provided on the R445 (Curragh) approach. It may be possible to provide a filter lane/arrow on the R445 (town centre) approach – however there is currently no available funding to investigate or carry out any additional works.

The report added that the Green Road and Morristown approaches operate as separate traffic phases and there is no requirement for filter arrows for these approaches. The facilities at the junction will be reviewed as part of any future active travel scheme in the area.

“Both junctions carry significant traffic,” Cllr O’Dwyer explained at the meeting.

Regarding the Moorefield junction, Cllr Chris Pender noted that residents have said filter lights exist but don’t seem to be operational. He added that one of the biggest issues in Newbridge is traffic flow and that filter lights can encourage people to take other routes.