At the junction of the Brackenstown Rd and Murrough Rd a new mini-roundabout will be put in place as part of the safe route to schools scheme for St Cronan’s School.
The new design has been put forward with a view to protecting school children, vulnerable road users, and improving traffic flow at the location.
The design team outline the changes as follows:
- Providing new controlled Zebra crossing at top of St. Cronan’s Avenue. This will provide a safe crossing point for all pedestrians & cyclists including improved safe crossing for school children using School Warden
- Replacing existing pedestrian lights to a Zebra Crossing on Brackenstown Road (Opposite playground).
- Linking off-road two-way cycle path to Zebra Crossing
- Improving turning efficiency at the junction for all road vehicles
- Safer cycle lanes through the junction and options to cross at Zebra Crossings
- One directional traffic on roundabout helps reduce traffic speeds and reduce risk of collisions
- Raised tables at Zebra crossings will help reduce traffic speeds
Cllr Ian Carey said:
“I know the changes to the road layout here will need time to settle in but I believe that this road layout will be postive for the area. The lack of a permanent crossing point where the school warden is has always been a problem for the area. The main traffic at the junction has always been between the Murrough Rd and the Swords Manor area so a roundabout should improve that flow of traffic. The crossing towards the park is also in a more convenient location for walkers and the improvement to cycle lanes is welcome.
“I would ask that people in the area give the new layout a chance to bed in. Ultimately the more people walking and cycling we have in Swords the less cars we will have on the road and it will allow more space for those who need it. This is really important when it comes to encouraging children to walk and cycle and areas around schools need to be really safe for young people because of this.”
