Council seeks motorway accident plan

SOUTH DUBLIN County Council are going to write to Transport Infastructure Ireland (TII) and the Garda Commissioner with the terms of a protocol for the management of incidents on motorways following the unanimous passing of a motion at last Tuesday’s special meeting of SDCC.

The motion proposed by Lucan-based councillors William Lavelle and Vicki Casserly noted the ongoing concerns in relation to serious traffic delays on the M50 arising from accidents, and called on the TII “to put in place a region-wide public information campaign to explain the new M50 diversion route signage.

He further called on the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána to provide additional resources to the Regional Traffic Unit to aide local Gardai in managing both accident sites on the M50 and the implementation of diversions’ routes”.

The Council replied that since 2015 an Interagency Incident Response Group (IICG) was set up which comprises of representatives from An Garda Síochána, Dublin Fire Brigade, the four Dublin Local Authorities, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Motorway Traffic Control Centre.

They said that the role of the group is to ensure a coordinated approach to the management of incidents that occur on motorways in the Greater Dublin Area.

The IICG put in place a ‘Protocol for the management of major incidents on motorways’ in April 2016 and this document is subject to ongoing review. The terms of the protocol will be conveyed to TII and An Garda Síochána.