Incident near Cobh highlights need for new road onto the Great Island

There were lengthy traffic queues attempting to get on or exit the Great Island on Saturday night after an accident involving an overturned car blocked the only access road for a number of hours.

According to Gardaí, the accident took place at approximately 7.30pm on Saturday evening and the road remained closed until approximately 10.30pm. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.  

Cobh based Labour councillor, Cathal Rasmussen, told The Echo that a new road to allow drivers to come and go from Cobh was a high priority for Cork County Council but that it would take several years for the project to be completed.

“There are well over 14,000 vehicles on that road every day,” he said, describing progress towards developing a new road to access the island as ‘very slow’ – despite the matter being highlighted by councillors on a regular basis.

Delays

This is the second time in two months that a road traffic accident has caused lengthy delays on the R624 with substantial tailbacks both on the island itself and on the N25 Cork to Waterford road.

In May, the Cobh councillor Sinéad Sheppard raised the issue following an accident on the road which she said caused delays to many people, which led them being unable to get to school or work.

“Traffic was stuck on that road for two hours without moving, people that missed flights, people that were panicking that they didn’t get back to collect their children from preschool on time, it was just scary,” said the councillor. 

She pointed out that several similar road closures of the R624 had occurred a number of times due to accidents over the past number of months.

The Fine Gael councillor said that there was an appetite among officials for a new road but that it was taking a long time to get the project over the line.

“Whenever we have a roads report, that report is listed but it’s at a snail’s pace, it’s €150,000 for this report and that report – how many reports do we need?” 

Ms Sheppard said that the need for a new road to connect the island to the mainland had been acknowledged for almost 30 years.

Ms Sheppard further pointed out the population living in Cobh and its environs was now around 14,000 and growing and the need for the new road was growing in urgency.