Laois commuters share their views on 'nightmare' commute on M7

Over 13,000 people commute from Laois everyday and with such a large number of vehicles joining the N7 and M7 every morning, travelling to work has become a nightmare for many. Not only does this impact travelling conditions, but the high number of people leaving the county for work demonstrates a major drain on its workforce.

Laois County Council is currently in the process of commissioning a study to investigate the reasons why people are commuting out of Laois for work and the extent to which commuters would like to work within the county.

According to the 2022 Census, Laois had the fifth longest travel time for workers across the country with an average of 32.3 minutes. Laois commuters also travelled an average of 25.3km to work. However, since then people travelling to work have described a notable increase in traffic on the road.

The Leinster Express asked real people from around Laois about their experiences with commuting and what they think the biggest problem facing drivers is. Most people we spoke to travel to County Dublin and North Kildare for work. What did they all have in common? They each spend hours every day sitting in traffic before and after their workday.

Helen Fogarty
"I commute to Fonthill 3 days a week from Portlaoise. It’s a nightmare! Last week it took me 2.5 hours to get to work. I am lucky though that I have two days where I can work from home. I don’t know how people do it 5 days a week. The traffic has become a huge source of stress in my life. On the days I’m in Dublin, the commute is so draining that by the time I finally get home, I’m completely exhausted. I’m literally fit for the bed. It feels like the constant delays and long hours on the road are contributing to real burnout. I’d say I spend at least 9 hours a week travelling. The government needs to encourage remote and flexible working by supporting employers to offer hybrid or flexible start times."

Ethan Dowling
"I travel the N7/M7 everyday Monday to Friday. Usually without traffic my commute from Portlaoise to Grange Castle should only take 50 minutes but most days it takes on average one hour and twenty minutes. If there are any accidents on the road that can easily take two hours. I do find it puts your mental health in a bad position as you are starting off your day on a negative note, the frustration at the traffic, being late for work (even when you leave an extra 30 minutes early) and then the stupidity of other road users. Definitely in the past 6 months the N7 particularly has been getting to the point that you are almost saying a prayer before you leave because of other road users. Something drastically needs to be done, I don't know if it's creating a new ring road to divert all traffic from Naas to north Dublin before the congestion builds from Newlands Cross or having a dedicated response team 24/7 for just that road along with a dedicated policing team patrolling it at all times. If there were more rail lines with cheap commutes and regular trains into smaller towns and rural areas this also would be a massive reduction in traffic. Our government needs to focus on a plan to allow larger businesses to be able to relocate to the Midlands with some incentive instead of just having all of these big firms in Dublin but nobody being able to live nearby with affordability or availability."

TJ Lawless
"It has a big impact on my daily commute. First thing in the morning I'm tuning into traffic reports on the radio as I travel, hoping I'm not going to be caught in some hold up. On a weekly basis I can be caught between 1.5 to up to 4 hours. I work in Naas, that's where my depot is. I pick up a van from there to start my route. If I'm home for 7pm every evening I'm very lucky. I'm on the roads some days from 6:45am depending on the day, some days are busier than others with people who aren't working from home on the day. Lane hopping is a big factor in these accidents that hold everything up. The amount of near misses I see daily is ridiculous, people just aren't practising safe driving. I see some eating their breakfast literally from a bowl, others putting on their makeup, and many watching TV on their mobile or taking calls which is fine as long as you have it handwheel!"

Susanne Ledesma
"I travel from Mountmellick to Tallaght Hospital daily for work since 2011. Only in the past year have I been able to work from home half of the time. This has been a game changer! The morning and evening commute even half the time is exhausting! The biggest danger, in my opinion, is people driving too close. It’s unbelievable to see some in the fast lane bullying others out, including the trucks and buses! It’s having an impact on time, what should be an hour to Tallaght usually takes 1.5 hours these days and that’s without any ‘incidents’. Last Wednesday I got as far as Kildare Village and turned and came home following an incident near Naas that impacted back as far as Kildare."

Denise Sexton
"I travel to Naas from Mountmellick only 2 days a week, thankfully. In the last few weeks I've been checking every morning to make sure there are no delays. Last week after dropping off the child to the childminders, I left Mountmellick at 7am and got into work at 8:45am after taking an alternative route to avoid a multi-vehicle crash, a journey that usually only takes 40 minutes max. Where the M9 merges onto the M7 between junctions 12 and 10 has become a death trap. Cars come onto the M7 from the M9 thinking they have the right to just cut across all the lanes to get to the right-hand outside lane. Indicator use has become a thing of the past. I can only imagine how long it takes those going the whole way to Dublin. People's driving on these roads has gotten so dangerous."

Cathy Egan
"Absolute madness every day I have to commute. I used to leave at 5.30am but traffic became so heavy and slow at this time so I now leave 10 minutes earlier and it was perfect, but it seems everyone has figured this out also. Lots of lane hoggers in the outside lane driving well below the speed limit causing drivers behind to get irritated and swerve between lanes causing accidents. People should have to pass a specific test to be allowed on the motorway. I don't know how people do it who work normal 9-5 hours. The odd time I get to leave at 6.30am and as soon as you get on the N7 it’s stop start, stop start. I used to think it was an accident, but it seems to just happen at every single junction. It is so frustrating."

Owen Smith
"I’m a frequent user of the M7. It’s turned into an absolute disaster but I don’t see what the government is going to do. This week alone I’ve seen a woman swerving on the road because she was putting on lipstick. I saw two men in a van driving up the hard shoulder and pulling out in front of a truck. When the truck blew the horn the van decided to brake check him! Then this morning I saw at least 5 people on their mobile and driving aggressively. The government can’t stop the stupidity of the drivers."