Kerry County Council has denied that its insurance will be liable in the event of an incident on the controversial Fossa road project.
Independent councillor Brendan Cronin raised the matter at the recent Killarney Municipal District meeting.
The width of the road has caused controversy, with many claiming it is too narrow for some vehicles; this is denied by Kerry County Council.
A major road project is continuing on the N72 at Fossa, to include a new footpath, cycleway, and pedestrian crossing.
The width of each lane for motorists is now three-metres wide, as approved by Killarney MD councillors in July 2022.
Councillors in the Killarney Municipal District have since criticised the width of the road, claiming it is too narrow, especially for heavy-goods vehicles and tractors.
Kerry County Council says fewer than 3% of the vehicles which travel this section of roadway are heavy-goods vehicles, and when they meet they can pass each other at low speeds.
The council said for abnormally wide loads, there are areas where vehicles can pull in, but this will be infrequent and similar scenarios occur on other roads without difficulty.
At the recent Killarney MD meeting, Independent councillor Brendan Cronin said the roadway is not wide enough without going up on the kerb.
He said if there is an incident, the responsibility will not be with the driver, but with Kerry County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
He asked, because of this, how exposed are the council's finances and how exposed are the county's ratepayers, who foot the bill for the council's insurance.
Kerry County Council’s written response to the motion outlined in detail how the project came to this point, and said drivers must obey the rules of the road and drive in a responsible manner.
The reply said drivers have to be insured, and in the event of an incident, the matter is dealt with by the drivers’ private insurance and not Kerry County Council’s insurance.
At the meeting, the council’s Director of Roads Frank Hartnett said he took the time to give a comprehensive reply to Cllr Cronin’s motion, and he is not going to add any more to it.
Cllr Cronin replied that that says it all.
