The Government is allocating €13 million to improve hazardous local roads that have been flagged as accident blackspots, reports The Mirror.
This announcement follows another deadly week on Irish roads, where five people tragically lost their lives in separate collisions across the country.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has also issued a warning, highlighting that the extended daylight hours during summer can present heightened dangers for road users, reports The Mirror.
Junior Transport Minister Sean Canney explained that the Government is collaborating with Local Authorities nationwide to pinpoint accident-prone areas.
He said: “Safety analysis is conducted annually on the regional and local road network, using collision data, collected originally by members of An Garda Síochána, reports The Mirror.
“This process identifies high-risk road safety areas, referred to as Locations of Interest (LOIs). Local authorities are engaged to review and implement appropriate remedial measures at these sites.”
According to the Minister, every year local authorities are invited to seek financial support from his Department to help carry out engineering upgrades at LOI locations, alongside their own funding, reports The Mirror.
“This investment is targeted by utilising collision statistics and the Network Safety Analysis. In addition to these LOI sites, local authorities also submit for safety schemes based on local knowledge and engineering expertise,” Minister Canney said, reports The Mirror.
“Approximately €13m will be invested in Low-Cost Safety Improvement Works in 2025. Additional road safety schemes are also funded through specific improvement and strategic regional and local road grant programmes,” reports The Mirror.
He went on to outline that two separate systems are used to assess collision risks across the network.
Reactive collision analysis examines the entire national road network to spot locations with an unusually high number of collisions, reports The Mirror.
Meanwhile, proactive safety inspections involve safety experts visually reviewing the national road network every three to four years.
Minister Canney made these remarks in response to a question from Kildare TD Naoise Ó Cearúil, who inquired about how the Department uses data and local insight to detect areas at higher risk of accidents, reports The Mirror.
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