Road closure forces emergency services to take a 5km detour
By Aideen O'Flaherty
THE closure of Edmondstown Road in Rathfarnham, which has forced emergency services to take a 5km detour to access residents’ homes and has seen custom in one local business reduce by 25 per cent, has been described as “unacceptable” by local residents.
A section of Edmondstown Road, located between The Merry Ploughboy Pub and Tibradden Road, was closed by South Dublin County Council last November following unauthorised excavation works being carried out, which destabilised the road.
The Edmondstown Road has closed to protect the safety of road users
The council was forced to close the road to “protect the safety of road users” and they have stated that it may take up to a year for the road to reopen, however local residents are calling for the work to be completed sooner in order to remedy the knock-on effect the closure is having on the local area.
“There have been reports of five separate incidences of emergency vehicles getting to the road and then having to stop and turn back to use the road diversion route,” according to Fionnuala Malone from the Reopen Edmondstown Road Now group.
“It’s unacceptable. [When emergency service vehicles are trying to use the road] it could be a case of life or death.”
Two Dublin Bus services have had to be rerouted as a result of the closure, as they cannot serve Rockbrook until the road is repaired, and there is no footpath on the road which makes it too dangerous for pedestrians to use.
Local businesses have also suffered as a result of the road closure, with Niall Fitzharris of The Hazel House Café saying that custom is down by 25 per cent since the closure of the road.
“People would come up to us from work for lunch, but now they won’t because of the detour – it takes too long for them to get here when they’re on an hour-long lunchbreak,” Mr Fitzharris told The Echo.
Down 50 per cent
“For the first three weeks after the road closed we were down 50 per cent, then people got to know about the road closure so the next time they came up they used the diversion, but people who aren’t familiar with the roads here aren’t going to do that.
“As far as I’m concerned, we need the road to open.
“If this keeps going on we’ll end up having to organise a shuttle bus or something like that, because of the amount of custom that we’re losing.”
A time-frame on the reopening of the road is not yet known due to the high level of work anticipated to reinstate the road, with The Echo understanding that works could cost the council in the region of €1 million.
The Echo contacted South Dublin County Council for comment.
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