Exasperated resident"s call for junction work is backed by Navan mayor

A Navan resident who heard a 'rumbling sound' from the front of his house on the Trim Road on Monday went outside to discover that the front wall and gate had been destroyed after a collison between a car and articulated truck on the road outside. Michael O"Brien has called for urgent action by Meath County Council to stagger the junction, known locally as Balreask Cross, where the collision occurred. He said this was the 27th accident he could recall to occur there. One of these accidents resulted in the tragic death of 20 year-old Navan man Ezio Lupo in 2004. Mr O"Brien"s house is right beside the junction where the Navan-Trim road links the Borallion road and Gainstown road. Currently the Borallion is closed due to road works. He described it as 'nerve-wracking' for himself and his wife to hear the sounds of braking vehicles in the small hours of the night. His house was built in 1896 and is not set back 60 feet from the road like other houses in the area. As a result, the front of his house is very close to the road itself. He has lived there for over 30 years. The accident on Monday was the third in which his house has been affected. He added it was fortunate that neither he nor his wife were at the front of the house where there are flower beds when the collision occurred. He had, however, been at the back of the house when he heard a bang outside on the road, then a bit rumbling sound, then silence. He went around and saw the vehicle sitting in his front garden. He could not get out through his front door as it opens outwards. Traffic had stopped and people were standing around when he got out to the road. A woman asked him to get a glass of water for the woman who was driving the car. He did so and also spoke to the driver of the articulated vehicle. Gardai arrived and the woman was taken by ambulance to Our Lady"s Hospital, Navan. His call for the staggering of the junction was backed by the Mayor of Navan, Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons. Mr O"Brien said that a fine job had been done on upgrading and improving the Trim-Navan road but the Balreask junction had not been staggered as residents had hoped. The Williamstown Cross junction not far away had been staggered, he added. This was the third accident which had impacted on his property, added Mr O"Brien. In a previous incident, a car had ended up right at this front door one night, having come through the hedge.