Kerry bus stop program ‘too slow’ says councillor as children take ‘dangerous’ detours to avoid the elements
Councillor Tom Barry expressed his frustration with the NTA’s Bus Stop Enhancement Program and warned that schoolchildren waiting for the bus were taking ‘dangerous’ detours to get out of the elements.Kerry County Council was granted €500,000 for the programme in 2025, using the funds to install 15 bus stop signs and three bus shelters during the year.While shelters were constructed in Rathmore, Killarney and Fossa, Cllr Barry said black spots in the county’s bus infrastructure still remain.“Obviously you welcome any improvement in infrastructure but we're way behind to be fair when you compare us to other counties,” said Cllr Barry“Even Abbeyfield, look at the fine bus stop there. That's under Limerick County Council. Foynes, again another example of how they're way ahead of us.“My Sinn Féin colleague, Robert Brosnan, recently raised the case of Lispole. There's no actual bus stop there. You’re in the heart of tourism country there again and tourists don’t even know where to stand to stop a bus.”Cllr Barry has repeatedly raised the plight of Lixnaw residents who have been looking for a shelter for years.He emphasised that people were standing out in all weather conditions waiting for the bus to collect them, with local school children crossing the road to shelter under a nearby shop.“It's not rocket science,” said Cllr Barry.“I know you have to find the proper location but my worry is, particularly in Lixnaw, you have kids and others standing waiting for a bus ride, and what do they do when it rains?“They're actually crossing the main road to get shelter outside the local shop. That is dangerous. I know there's a number of these projects in the mix but it's too slow.“I've heard other councillors from other parts of the county saying this as well. It’s a basic requirement really, in my opinion. If you want to improve public transport, you can put on more buses or whatever, but if you don't have the infrastructure, sure it's no good, you have to have forward planning.“Most projects you'd hear that the hold-ups are due to a lack of funding. There's no lack of funding, the funding is there. We just need to have a cohesive plan, pick so many projects, pick so many areas, and just get it done.”Kerry County Council said in a council meeting in March that they are assessing all bus stops in the Municipal District to enable them to prioritise locations by need.They said there was a considerable body of work before individual projects could be progressed.Construction could start in May for Ballybunion’s first bus shelter on Kit Ahern Road, including around 50m of footpath to link the bus stop platform to the existing public footpathThe public consultation closed at the end of last month with no public submissions received.Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
