Edition Bobbett1. Texts by Elizabeth F. Bobbett: 1.1.2. Correspondence, Letters to the authorities
1962 Elizabeth Bobbett: Letter to the Wicklow County Council, 24.10.1962
Source: Wicklow County Archives (WCA), County Council Minutes, 1962, p. 226, 12.11.1962
Item No. 9. Letter from Miss Elizabeth F. Bobbett, Springfield, Kilbride, Regarding Road Improvement Work at The Tap, Ballard, etc.
The following letter from Miss Elizabeth F. Bobbett, Springfield, Kilbride, addressed to the Chairman of the Council, was submitted.
Speed v. Safety.
Dear Sir. As I am more interested in Safety than Speed and am a Ratepayer and keenly interested in the manner in which Ratepayers’ money is expended, I wish to bring to your notice the condition of a Road Improvement Scheme which has been carried out in my district.
It is the new part of the road made at The Tap, Ballard, on the Main Dublin/Arklow Road. The new speed track is all that can be desired by the Speed Hogs, but there is no consideration for the people who live in the area and have to use the road daily either by walking or by car. It is a death trap to try and cross it from the Kilbride Road which has been raised at the corner of Mrs. Arthur’s Cottage and the new road is so close to the Cottage garden that your motor car is half out in the middle of the new Main Road before you can see if a car is coming from the Wicklow direction. The little hedge and shrubs on the Cottage garden hide the view completely and there is no Road Sign on the Wicklow side of the road to show you that there is a side road to the left.
It is most dangerous for a pedestrian to cross that road as the three roads meet the traffic coming from Arklow and I would suggest that a pedestrian crossing island be put on it, or better still, traffic lights.
I understand that all these Main Road Schemes are mapped out by the Engineers in the Department of Local Government, so I am not blaming our local Engineers for the Scheme, but surely they could have pointed out such mistakes in the planning.
With regards to the “four-rail” wooden fences which are erected along these new roads, I would be very interested to know what is the cost per hundred yards of such wooden fences compared with cement posts and link wire fences and what is the “life span” of both fences? While the wooden fence may be a way to find a market for some of our home timber I consider it is not as suitable a fence as the span is too much and lambs can get through it.
Having erected the wooden fences will the County Council put up netting wire to keep the farmers’ lambs from getting out on the roads? Is it a compulsory order from the Department of Local Government that these wooden fences be used?
I write this letter in the interests of Safety. This corner is now the most dangerous on the road where as before it was done there was never a bad accident at it.
Yours sincerely, Elizabeth F. Bobbett, Springfield, Kilbride, Wicklow.