Screen to stop N40 rubbernecking

Demolition has stopped at Douglas Shopping Centre as they work on erecting a screen around it in a bid to stop drivers from rubbernecking on the N40.

It’s envisaged that it will take up to a week or two to set up the screen given the size of the site and the work involved. 

The news came to light at a Cork City Joint Policing Committee meeting yesterday after concerns were raised about dangerous driving as people pass the site and slow down to look at the demolition in process and the extent of the damage. 

The demolition began last month after a fire broke out in the carpark of the shopping centre in August.

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan confirmed at yesterday’s meeting that work had begun after Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer said that it was a “miracle no one has been killed”.

“They should never have been allowed to start the work without planning for a screen. Anyone who has travelled the N40 since the dreadful fire will know that people are stopping and going."

Superintendent O’Sullivan told the Cork Independent: “They commenced work on it (yesterday). It’s going to take about a week or so to get it up because they have to build a scaffolding wall and that has to be anchored onto the road below. That’s going to take a week to two weeks to complete. 

“There was a risk that there could have been traffic accidents on the road because of people slowing down and rubbernecking. I would encourage anyone driving along that road to focus on the road and forget about all the incidental stuff around you.”

Welcoming the news about the screen, Fianna Fáil Cllr Mary Rose Desmond said: “It’s a great relief that we got confirmation that the screen will be going up. It has proven to be very dangerous there over the past number of weeks with motorists slowing down and some coming to a complete stop.”