If you read some of the local media coverage of a road safety project on the N72 in Fossa, Co Kerry, you might be led to believe that the village is impassable due to trucks and buses getting stuck as they pass each other, but traffic seems to keep moving somehow.
Killarneytoday.com, for example, reported this week that: “Despite assurances from engineers and council officials that the new roadway currently under construction in Fossa will be wide enough for two large vehicles to pass each other with ease, this photograph would seem to suggest otherwise.”
However, Kerry County Council has issued an image taken by a drone (above) to councillors showing two large vehicles that have enough space to pass each other.
The road in question is a national road that is part of the Ring of Kerry and is popular with tourists. The project mainly includes a reduction of the width of the carriageway, an expansion of footpaths, a new crossing outside a school, and the segregation of the cycle route.
The drawing for the project shows that the cycling and pedestrian facilities include a mix of totally shared paths, which is standard for less urban areas, and paths separated by a line closer to the centre of the village.
The issue of the road width has generated a raft of media coverage, including the Kerryman newspaper reporting “‘People are gone mad’ – Frustration at Kerry roadworks“, and Killarneytoday.com reporting “War of words expected in Fossa roadworks crux” and that “Two buses struggle to pass each other on Fossa road“.
From articles and public notices posted to Facebook ahead of the works, Kerry County Council officials were clear that there would be disruption related to the reconstruction of the road to allow for a redesign in line with traffic calming principles. The construction works are ongoing.
From the comments under Facebook posts by politicians and media outlets, many of the complaints from the public are from people who are travelling through Fossa to get to other areas, and they are mainly complaining about the expected disruption from the reconstruction of the road.
Several commentators and some of the media coverage also mention the cycling provision of the project, when it is mainly a traffic-claiming project, and the cycle tracks, in part, will be less continuous than before.
There are also various claims made in comments, including that the footpath or shared paths will be wider than the roadway, which is untrue. A significant number of comments under some of the posts are people complaining about projects in other parts of the country.
While a small number of commenters were spreading conspiracy theories about 20-minute neighbourhoods, a branch of the 15-minute conspiracy theories — which twists a planning preference of having services near where people live into a plot to limit travel. The extra five minutes might be to make the outlandish claims a tiny bit more realistic for rural Ireland.
In relation to a wider view of the photo below, Killarneytoday.com reported: “Two buses passing travelling in opposite directions close to Fossa national school were forced to slow almost to a standstill to ensure they could negotiate the task safely.”
“The photograph, which was taken by a passer-by, has been shared extensively on social media, emphatically backs up concerns voiced by locals and politicians,” the news website said.
Pa Daly, a Sinn Féin TD for Kerry — who was one of the politicians who posted the below image to his Facebook — said: “Clearly there is a problem here with the road at Fossa. The council will take steps to address it.”
Zooming in on the photo shows that at least one of the buses was some distance from the kerb — given the ongoing construction, this could be because of the condition of the road surface ahead or something in the way, such as a traffic cone or just because the driver was keeping out from the worksite to the left.
Radio Kerry reported how Cathaoirleach of the Killarney Municipal District, Cllr Maura Healy-Rae (independent), said that she has huge concerns about the width of the new roadway and claimed that the road will have to close if there is a breakdown.
Cllr Johnny Healy-Rae (independent) echoed concerns about a breakdown blocking the road, and also claimed the project was a waste of money and there was no need for it. Meanwhile, Cllr Marie Moloney (Labour) said there’s currently “mayhem” in the village.
Cllr Niall ‘Botty’ O’Callaghan (independent) suggested that officials might organise a test on the road with two buses or trucks passing by each other.
In an interview with Radio Kerry last month, he said that he acknowledges the inconvenience these works are causing, but he said that the work is needed for safety reasons.
Cllr O’Callaghan said: “I don’t want to come across as flipant but I think people need just a bit of patience and it will work out. Every time there’s a bit of road works, we get calls [with people saying] ‘The road is going to be too tight’.”
“There were road works [in another location] a couple of months ago and I was getting phone calls [claiming] ‘there’s no way a truck and tractor will get up there’, and when the road works were finished and the actual road is done, there is no issue,” he said.
On the Fossa project, Cllr O’Callaghan added: “I’m taking the word of the engineers and the project design that it will slow cars down, because there are cars speeding all the time and we all know it.”
When the project was given Part 8 approval from councillors in 2022, it was reported by the Kerryman newspaper that councillors had a heated discussion before the approval, but that mainly seemed down to junction tightening.
The junction is not narrow by modern standards, and engineers made it clear that the turn would accommodate trucks and farm equipment.
