New bus pick-up point mooted for Athlone secondary students

Bus Éireann is proposing to move the bus collection point for students of three Athlone secondary schools from Retreat Road to the Athlone Town Stadium area in Lissywollen, a council meeting was told this week.

This potential change to the pick-up arrangements for students from Athlone Community College, Our Lady's Bower, and the Marist College was initially proposed in early 2020, shortly before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A meeting took place at that stage between Bus Éireann and representatives of the schools, but the change of location ultimately didn't happen.

However, council director of services Barry Kehoe told Monday's meeting of the Athlone Moate Municipal District that the bus company was now proposing to implement the change for safety reasons.

"Bus Éireann's school transport unit has assessed the circumstances of the collection of students at Retreat. They've decided the safer option is to pick up those students at Athlone Town Stadium," said Mr Kehoe.

"They're going to communicate this decision to the schools and to parents fairly shortly, and implement that change probably in the coming weeks for safety reasons.

"The idea is that it's safer to pick up the students at the Athlone Town Stadium rather than going into Retreat, or going onto the grounds of the schools, for those collections."

The topic had been raised for discussion by Cllr Frankie Keena. He requested that the Municipal District to write to Bus Éireann asking it to convene a meeting on the issue which would be attended by stakeholders from the three schools, councillors, and the Gardai.

He mentioned that he chaired the board of management at Athlone Community College and had been asked by "stakeholders" to make the request at the district meeting.

However, other councillors said the issue was primarily a matter for the schools and that the onus was on the schools, not the local authority, to contact Bus Éireann about arranging a meeting.

Cllr John Dolan, who is also on the Athlone Community College board, said BAM contractors, who built its new school, "can't have pupils from another school on the grounds of Athlone Community College, and that's the major issue here.

"The paramount thing is, no matter where (students are) picked up, they need to be safe, and I think the Gardai are going to have a big role to play in this."

Cllr Tom Farrell said he also chaired a school's board of management and that this was "very much a schools issue" and not one in which the council should be "poking our nose".

"If Bus Éireann have made a decision in terms of the safety of the students, then it means that where the students are being picked up isn't safe, and hasn't been safe," said Cllr Paul Hogan. "I would have raised that issue for years - the need for a safe location."

Cllr Keena said the issue was relevant to the local authority because it would impact on residents in Brawney and traffic at the Ballymahon Road roundabout.

He also said there would be a lot of construction traffic in the Lissywollen area when building of the approved 576-unit strategic housing development begins.

It was ultimately agreed that the local authority would write to Bus Éireann asking if a safety audit or review had prompted the proposal to change the pick-up location.

After the meeting, Cllr Keena said he was disappointed not to receive support from the other members to write to Bus Éireann asking for it to facilitate a meeting "to try and resolve any concerns" about the new student pick up location.

"In my opinion, the only way of resolving issues is for the relevant groups to meet and discuss," he said.

The Westmeath Independent contacted Bus Éireann on this issue.

In response, a spokesperson for the company said: "Our local school transport office in Athlone continually review the operation of school transport services in the area, and actively monitor and improve service performance with safety being the key priority.

"The operation of school transport for three local schools in Athlone has significantly increased due to high volumes of passengers and vehicles in the school locality.

"We have been liaising with Westmeath County Council in relation to identifying a new safe evening pick up point for pupils of these three local schools.

"We have sourced a new location, which will commence operation in the next number of weeks.

"The Bus Éireann local school transport office will continue to engage with schools in the area and parents in relation to proposed changes to the current operation of school transport services," the spokesperson concluded.