A PETROL station owner in Macken near Kinawley has warned that “it’s only a matter of time” before someone is seriously injured if a slip-road to her station is not built.
Michelle McCorry of McCorry’s 24-Hour Fuel on the A509 road between Derrylin and Enniskillen was speaking following the latest of a series of crashes near the petrol station.
Last Friday lunchtime, the road had to be closed for an hour after two vehicles collided. Two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries and were released later on that day.
Michelle says that the stretch of road has become a blackspot for traffic accidents and says the problem lies with a dip in the road leading up to the petrol station which means that drivers behind someone slowing down to turn into the station have only seconds to react and avoid hitting them.
She said: “In terms of the human cost, thank God that those that have had accidents have been lucky enough not to have any serious injuries.
“While that is a blessing, I would say it is only a matter of time before a more serious incident happens if something is not done.
“The road is a blackspot. I have tried to do something about it but they won’t do anything. What happened last week was not the first traffic incident near our station – I was involved in one myself about a year ago as I was pulling into the shop.
“There’s a bit of a dip in the road and with it being a very busy road, there’s no shortage of cars flying over it. I didn’t see last week’s accident but it came as no surprise to me that this had happened once again.
“The problem comes when one car is coming over the dip and needs to drop down a couple of gears to turn into the fuel station and any car behind that one only has a few seconds to react to either reduce their own speed or to avoid hitting the car in front of them – especially if no indicator light is put on by the car that’s turning.
“From what I can gather about last week’s crash, one of the cars was close behind the other one and it clipped it when that car was about to pull in.
“If there was a slip road that they could use to pull into than that would be good. I’ve been talking to local councillors and there’s a speed limit that may be proposed. But you are relying on all drivers observing that speed limit.
“But regarding a new lane, no one has got back to me on that. The last time I asked, I was told that there wasn’t enough funding. But I suppose nothing will be done until somebody is killed out there.”
From a business point of view, the various crashes and subsequent road closures are having a financial effect.
Michelle added: “The crashes are not doing us any favours at all. Last week’s one saw that bit of the road closed – no one could get in or out for about an hour – with posts on social media advising drivers to avoid it.
“However, there were no posts put up to tell drivers the road was open again. You just have to take it on the chin but in terms of takings, they were not good on that day.”
The Department of Infrastructure has been approached for comment.
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