Transport | Thurles Information

Warning To Thurles Motorists & Pedestrians.

Motorists and pedestrians are being warned tonight to take extreme care when traversing the new €500,000 Bowes Corner road upgrade project here in Thurles.

Motorists will find themselves leaving a bright area and entering a darkened area, before, too late experiencing the surface, shown above, which could result in a tyre blowout or broken axle.

It would appear that those contracted to work on the Bowe’s Corner project went off for the Halloween weekend and the picture shown here, above, indicates their lack of dedication and the lack of dedication by Tipperary Co. Council engineers, latter handsomely paid to oversee such project disasters.

Note: No warning signs; no flashing lights and the water levels, in relation to the depth of the potholes, are extremely deceiving.

No Information On Why Thurles Street Lights Remain Extinguished During Rush Hour.

We have been receiving a number of queries over the past 6 weeks, with regards to the non-availability of public lighting in Liberty Square, Thurles, during the dark evening rush hour period.

We were aware that despite an energy crisis here in Ireland, over 56 lamp standards continuously remain lighting over a 24 hour period, each day, within the Thurles town precinct.
However, motorists are now informing us that lights are not illuminating our streets, as the local work force return home from their places of employment.

We sent out our “eye in the sky” to investigate at 5.45pm this evening, October 27th 2022.

See drone images hereunder:

**Liberty Square Thurles, October 27th, 2022. Time 5:45pm**.
*Drone Image: G. Willoughby*

We discovered that despite the promises by local Municipal District councillors and Tipperary Co. Council, to increased footfall on our widened pavements, same has been reduced to just one person riding on an electric scooter, and indeed most of the roadway lighting remains indeed extinguished as was reported.

Thurles.Info admits, for the first time, to being totally flummoxed, confused and perplexed and we apologise wholeheartedly, with complete sincerity, to our many readers, for being unable to answer their query.

Pointless emailing local councillors and officials, as they refuse to answer or are not familiar in the use of their email system. Still maybe, one of our Councillors might straighten their index finger and message us; spelling out the problem with the solution, before someone gets hit by a motor vehicle.

Road Safety Fines For Offences On Irish Roads Increase From Today.

Fines for a total of 16 road safety offences have doubled today.
Implementation of Action 30 of Road Safety Strategy.
Stronger deterrent to those who choose to break our lifesaving rules of the road.
World Health Organisation, estimate 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions.

Fines for speeding, will increase from €80 to €160, while fines for mobile phone use; the non-wearing of seat belts; and failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained within a motor vehicle, will rise from €60 to €120, and all with effect from midnight last night.

Fines for a learner permit holder driving a vehicle unaccompanied by a fully qualified licence bearing person will now increase from €80 to €160. Novice and learner drivers who fail to display ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates, or tabard vests in the case of motorcyclists, will see their fines also doubled to €120.

Three new fixed-charge notices will also come into force in early 2023, same relating to the misuse of a disabled parking permit (Fine €200), illegally parking in an electric charging bay (Fine €80) and breaching a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) ban and entering a specified public road without a valid permit (Fine €200).

These new measure comes into effect as the death toll on Irish roads this year has already risen to 122, an increase of 11 deaths, when compared to the same period last year.

However, motorists believe that this doubling of road offence fines has more to do with raising Irish revenue, rather than reducing deaths on our roads.

Pedestrian Struck By Car In Barry’s Bridge Area Of Thurles.

Traffic was brought to a halt at about 12:00 noon today, here in Thurles, when a female pedestrian, came into contact with a moving vehicle in the area of Barry’s Bridge and Barry’s Castle.

The lady pedestrian is understood to possibly have lost her balance, leaving a nearby pavement, before colliding with a slow moving vehicle, latter exiting from Barry’s Bridge unto Emmett Street in the town.

It was raining heavily at the time of the accident, as confirmed by extensive flooding on nearby Kickham Street, for the second time in just 10 days.

Despite backed up heavy traffic, and the narrow streetscape, Gardai and an Ambulance crew managed to effectively reach the scene.

The female pedestrian managed to walk to the ambulance aided by crew and from her posture appeared to be suffering from shock and possibly slight head injuries.

We have no further update at this time.

This is the second such incident involving pedestrians in this immediate area in the past 5 months.

Rail Works Affecting Thurles Train Services This Halloween Holiday.

Major rail works, currently being undertaken, are expected to bring disruption to train journeys this coming Halloween Bank Holiday weekend.

Due to a series of track and signalling works taking place, Iarnród Éireann have warned customers that a revised timetable will come into effect this October Halloween Bank Holiday weekend, and those expecting to travel, using the service, are being advised to book in advance.

These major works will be taking place, affecting Cork, Kerry and Limerick services, from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning.

The line between Portarlington and Thurles will be closed from 14:30 on Saturday.

All services between Dublin and Cork, Kerry and Limerick will be part-replaced by bus transfers, thus resulting in this revised schedule.

Note: Services between Cork and Dublin (Heuston) will operate on a revised schedule, with bus transfers between Thurles and Kildare set to operate in both directions.

People are being asked to please check time schedules before making essential journeys with full details to be shown online at www.irishrail.ie.

Direct services between Limerick and Dublin (Heuston) are cancelled. Journeys between Limerick and Dublin Heuston, involving a change at Limerick Junction, will have bus transfers between Thurles and Kildare, in both directions.

Direct services between Tralee and Dublin (Heuston) will operate as follows:

Saturday: 17:05, Heuston Station, Dublin to Tralee will operate between Mallow and Tralee only.

Sunday: 08:30 Heuston Station, Dublin to Tralee will operate with bus transfers between Thurles and Kildare. Commuter services between Portlaoise and Dublin Heuston will involve bus transfers between Portlaoise and Portarlington in both directions.

Irish Rail apologise to their customers, in anticipation of any inconvenience brought about by these essential repairs and updates.