This article is from page 2 of the 2013-05-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A VIGILANTE painter has struck at Clare’s most dangerous traffic junction, with a zebra crossing being painted at the notorious Blake’s Corner in Ennistymon.
The zebra crossing was painted in the early hours of last Tuesday morning, May 21, on the Lahinch side of dangerous junction. The identity of the vigilante painter is unknown, but some local people have started using the new zebra crossing.
Blake’s Corner has been the site of ongoing difficulty for Clare County Council, who have had to shelf long-awaited plans to create a new traffic flow system at the junction. Local group, Saving Ennistymon Heritage, opposed the new junction on the ground that two listed building, known as Blake’s and Linnane’s, would have to be demolished as part of the joint National Roads Authority (NRA)/Clare County Council project.
The process has been stalled for the last two years as Clare County Council have been unable to secure funding from the NRA to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed development. More than two million people use the tiny junction every year to access the Cliffs of Moher and Lahinch beach.
Council engineer, Tony Neville, yesterday describe the vigilante action as a “dig” against the council.
“We have to take it out. It is emulsion so white spirits won’t take it out. We are scrubbing it at the moment,” he said.
“It is a bit of a dig. We have to condemn it and to note that is dangerous. People are using it and it is causing confusion. If anyone has information we would urge them to contact the gardaí.”
Local councillor Joe Arkins (FG) said that the action was a direct prompt from the local community aimed at the council.
“The community are prompting us to take on certain works here. We have a real problem there [Blake’s Corner] and the sooner we can apply outselves to solving this the better,” he said.
In an official statement yesterday Clare County Council urged local people to forward any information on the new crossing to the Gardaí.
“We will be removing the zebra crossing as soon as possible. If any member of the general public is aware of the identity of the person or persons who did this, they should report it to the Ennistymon Area Office or directly to the gardaí. Unauthorised surface markings can cause confusion for road users and can be hazardous for both pedestrians and motorists,” said senior engineer Tom Tiernan.