‘No sign’ on N3 for Killeshandra

Up to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to decide what signs are placed on national routes.

It was suggested the people of Killeshandra felt aggrieved at little or no signage pointing to the town from the N3.

Fine Gael’s Peter McVitty pointed out that the only sign for Killeshandra between Cavan Town and the Aghalane crossing into Northern Ireland, both ways, was at Drumsilla, near Butlerbridge. This, he argued, ignored the fact that there was a road linking Killeshandra via Milltown, off the N87 and onto the R201, at what is known locally Lanagan’s Well.

“There’s no sign for Killeshandra at Staghall,” he said, noting that representations had been made to him from people living in Killeshandra about it.

He said he knew it was up to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to decide what signs are placed on national routes, but wondered if an exception could be made in this regard.

Independent Brendan Fay supported his fellow councillor’s position, saying: “If people come from the north, if they don’t know, they’ll end up going as far as Drumsilla.”

Fianna Fáil’s Sean Smith agreed, saying that people in Killeshandra “felt ignored” by the lack of signage at important junctures on the N3. “It is a town with a lot of employment,” he argued.

John Paul Feeley (FF) went further and suggested there was a “general need” to examine all signage in the county.

He stated that, while people now often use a sat nav to get around, the appearance of a sign signifying they were close to their destination was of “comfort”.

Senior engineer for the MD, Paul Mulligan said he had raised the matter with the council’s road design team who, in turn, brought it up with TII, which stated that the signs at present “comply”.

It was explained that Killeshandra did not feature because there was no “direct link” to the town off the N3 at Staghall. There was an option to place Killeshandra “in brackets” but this would have to be discussed further.

“There is only so much you can fit on one sign,” said Mr Mulligan, who said he would relay to the road design team that elected representatives wish to have Killeshandra better sign-posted. “We’ll come up with a set of strong proposals and see what can be done.”

Director of Services Brendan Jennings reiterated it would be “unusual” to see a town not directly linked via a main route sign-posted, but said “there are anomalies in this world”.