NTA have thrown Mayo County Council 'under the bus' – Mulroy

A MAYO councillor has accused the National Transport Authority of 'throwing Mayo County Council under the bus' for passing the buck on who was responsible for erecting bus stops at a dangerous street corner in Newport.

Last Tuesday morning, new bus stops were erected at the bottom of George's Street in Newport much to the dismay of local residents due to the dangers associated with the street. After an outcroy by residents and local representatives, the bus stops were removed on Thursday morning.

The matter was raised at yesterday's monthly meeting of Mayo County Council by Westport-based councillor Brendan Mulroy who stated he received an email from the National Transport Authority (NTA) which stated that the 'responsibility to upgrade bus stops or relocate them now rests with the respective local authorities' and 'the best course of action is to reach out to your local office'.

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In response to the correspondence, Cllr Mulroy accused the NTA of attempting to throw Mayo County Council under the bus and not take responsibility for the erection of the bus stop signs.

“Mayo County Council did not erect the signs on George's Street. We talked about the wastage of money and I want to know what was the cost of putting those two signs up.

“They were up for 48 hours and if a bus stopped on George's Street on the way up or the way down people had to get on and off that bus. That created a safety hazard on double yellow lines. Is that the sort of management that is being carried out by the NTA?

“At times we do criticise Mayo County Council but Mayo County Council had no hand act or part in this. The NTA through that email are after throwing Mayo County Council under the bus if you excuse the pun,” he said adding that the NTA had created a safety hazard for the time the bus stops were in place.

Clarity

“We need clarity because it is not good enough for people to come into a town ... when they were erecting the signs they were told [by residents] not to put them on double yellow lines. Why did the NTA despite everything go ahead and erect these signs on double yellow lines?

Westport councillor Brendan Mulroy was critical of the NTA response to Newport bus stops 

“In fairness to this local authority we carried out a very safe road scheme down there for the people going to school and the NTA came in and overnight created a real safety hazard and this email has basically thrown the council under the bus. I would like to know what cost was involved because they created a road safety situation for 48 hours and that is not good enough,” he told the meeting.

When asked if the NTA were correct that Mayo County Council were responsible, Tom Gilligan, Director of Services with the local authority, said they would be in contact with the NTA in relation to the erection of bus shelters and the roll out of Active Travel.

“A bus stop is not put up willy nilly and there has to be various criteria in relation to what is in the locality. We will go back and get a report,” he commented.

Speaking on the matter, Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn claimed that Bus Éireann, the NTA and Mayo County Council were all diverting responsibility away on who directed the bus stops to be erected on George's Street.

“The problem is this is again the fudge and nobody is taking responsibility. Bus Éireann are saying the NTA, the NTA are saying the council and the council don't know,” he said.

Mr Gilligan added: “I will go back and find out what did happen in this scenario. I don't want to second guess or assume anything,” he said.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is a statutory non-commercial body which is the public transport licensing agency for Ireland and reports to the Department of Transport.

Error

When contacted for comment on the erection of the signs at George's Street, a spokesperson for the NTA admitted that they were erected in error at the location before the matter was 'fully corrected'.

“In March of this year, the National Transport Authority (NTA) received a request from Mayo County Council to upgrade the existing bus stops in Newport.

“The request was considered reasonable, and in line with our Service Level Agreement, the NTA moved forward with the necessary steps to facilitate the upgrades.

“During the course of this work, a third-party contractor mistakenly installed the new poles in the incorrect locations. This error was identified and has since been fully corrected,” the spokesperson stated in an email to The Mayo News.

A Mayo County Council spokesperson stated: “Mayo County Council were not consulted by the NTA regarding the bus stops that were installed at the bottom of George's Street in Newport. The council contacted the NTA after they became aware of their installation and they have now been removed by the NTA.”

When the bus stops were first erected last Tuesday, Cormac Kelly, Chairman of the Newport Business Association told The Mayo News that local people could understand why the bus stop has been located as such a dangerous location and want it removed immediately.

“Everyone here thinks April Fools is still going on. Everyone can see that it is the wrong place for a bus stop but the guys putting it up this morning said that was the location they were told to put them.

“It has to be a mistake by somebody. If we don't do anything now it will be there for months which will be a disaster. We want someone to come down and look at it and say it is wrong and remove them.

“Anyone with a pair of eyes can see it is a mistake and I don't know why the location was chosen,” he said.

George's Street which links the centre of the town and the N59 Mulranny road is considered a hazard by many residents due to its narrow footpaths and the sharp corner at the bottom.

Local residents and business people campaigned for a number of years to improve the safety of George's Street for pedestrians which resulted in the installation of a new pedestrian crossing and footpaths last year.