Junction improvements at The Derries due this year

For years, local representatives have been seeking safety improvements at the junction between the Dublin Road and The Derries Road in Athlone, and it looks like they will now finally get their wish as work is set to take take place there in 2020.

Some €55,000 has been allocated for "junction improvement at The Derries, Athlone" in this year's Athlone Moate Municipal District roads budget. 
At a meeting on the roads budget last Thursday, District Engineer Pat Nally said the councillors were "all aware of The Derries junction issue" and that the money would be spent on improving sightlines for motorists making their way from The Derries on to the busy Dublin Road.
The need for improvements at the junction was raised at numerous meetings in the past, including in 2018 when Cllr Aengus O'Rourke asked the council to "tackle and finally deal with the dangers" it posed. 
Going back further, to 2014, then-councillor Kevin 'Boxer' Moran described it as a "deadly dangerous" junction.
"We owe an awful lot to the people of The Derries. They seem to be the forgotten people of Athlone and this (junction) is the main issue that's raised when we go to canvass there," said 'Boxer' at the time.