A group of Ardmore Road residents are to oppose a recently re-submitted plan for 76 houses on fields in the centre of the road.
Residents who spoke to Topic this week said they take their lives and those of their children in hand every day using the road, which is choked with traffic, poorly served by ad-hoc footpaths and, they argue, too narrow to accommodate the 150 vehicles the new estate may bring.
Topic accompanied a group of residents on Tuesday of this week and found that footpaths all along the road are in poor condition, and many are too narrow for pedestrians to use, never mind prams, buggies and wheelchairs. At key points along the road – at Saunders Bridge on the town end and at Turnpike Crossroads on the other – there are no footpaths at all, with people pushing prams running a gauntlet daily against huge volumes of traffic – much of it trucks, heavy goods vehicles and construction traffic meant to be banned from the road.
Sight lines for pedestrians on Saunders Bridge are poor, and residents say a pedestrian bridge or a new road bridge should be in place before any housing developments are allowed to take place.
Further up the road, residents say the paths are so narrow that parents walking babies and toddlers to houses and to a childcare facility on the road are being forced onto the busy road with their buggies. They added that a local wheelchair user is also forced onto the road to board transport provided by her carer.
There is also little room for cyclists and as well as improved footpaths on both sides, residents want a cycle lane to be provided before any further development takes place. Residents are also seeking significant improvements to be made to the speed ramps on the road, which they say are lower than their original ‘setting’.
To accommodate works such as the above, the already narrow road would have to made even narrower as existing residences, including a recently constructed detached house, are built almost onto the road. Accordingly, residents want to see the road turned into a cul-de-sac, serviced by new entrances onto the Dublin Road at Gleann Petit and the N52 at the IDA park.
They pointed to objectives stated by the Council in the current County Development Plan, the Mullingar Area Plan 2014 – 2020 and the Ardmore/Marlinstown Local Area Plan 2009 – 2023, which infer that before further development takes place on the Ardmore Road, improvements to the road structure must take place. The plans also highlight the need for a pedestrian bridge and improved road layout at the Saunders Bridge end.
The Ardmore/Marlinstown Local Area Plan specifically states: “Both social and basic road infrastructure are inadequate to cater for any further significant development in this area”. It adds, “the Ardmore Road will not be able to cope with significant further development unless improvements to the transportation system are introduced in the area. In order to address this deficiency, it is important to provide the area with a new transportation and movement network.”
A resident who has lived on the road since the 1970s told Topic that she sees no demand for the houses, and points to the ‘Royal Canal’ complex as an example. “There is already an unfinished estate on the Ardmore Road, and another (Ardmore Hills) with dozens of sites for sale. Should they not be finished before new ones are allowed?”
The initial application for the 76 houses was made by Shaston Construction Ltd, Forest Park, Mullingar, in 2013. However, the Council sought further information which included a revised site layout and revised house design among other items. Submissions on the development can be made in writing to the Council’s planners by Monday, July 21. The plans are on view in the Council’s Mullingar office.
