Demands to end 'motorway misery' intensify as Laois commuters face daily nightmare

Frustrations are mounting for commuters in Laois and across the region as more and more people take to the roads each day to travel to work.

Over 13,000 people commute from Laois everyday and with such a large number of vehicles joining the N7 and M7, travelling to work has become a nightmare for many.

Many of the people leaving the county journey to Dublin for work as well as for college and hospital appointments.

Leinster Express / Laois Live reached out to people across the county to share their experiences with commuting and the response was overwhelming. All agreed that traffic has increased in recent months and that it is having a detrimental effect on their lives.

Most of the people who responded were hybrid workers and so they don't have to travel to their workplace five days a week. However, the commute is still having a major impact on their lives and causing them to lose hours in traffic each week. 

One woman, Helen Fogarty, who travels from Portlaoise to Fonthill three days a week estimated that she loses at least 9 hours each week to commuting. 

She told Leinster Express / Laois Live: "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. It feels like the constant delays and long hours on the road are contributing to real burnout. The government needs to encourage remote and flexible working by supporting employers to offer hybrid or flexible start times."

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Another commuter, Shane O'Rourke, is in a similar situation as he travels between one and two days to Dublin City Centre from Portlaoise. He agreed with the sentiment regarding those who are forced to make the journey every day, saying his "true sympathy" goes out to them.

He told us: "The traffic is deplorable this time of year. Tiredness also no doubt causes accidents and in the worst case, fatalities. But what can we do, people have rent/mortgages and families to look after and unfortunately the quality of employment in the county is not as good as we would want it to be, though improving somewhat of late."

With many of the respondents citing impacts on their mental health, demands are intensifying for some changes to be made for commuters in terms of public transport, flexible working options, and improvements to the roads.

Kildare South and Labour Party TD Mark Wall has called on the government to implement Labour's plan to end "the ongoing motorway misery."

Deputy Wall said: "Right across the country many rural commuters are spending their lives stuck in traffic along Ireland's major motorways like the M7, N7 and M50, being late for work and missing critical medical appointments like chemotherapy."

Among Deputy Wall's suggestions was a new "Operation Free Flow" for the M7 and N7, similar to that on the M50. This would involve installing an emergency response unit on these roads to efficiently respond to accidents and keep traffic moving.

Some of the Laois commuters who spoke to Leinster Express / Laois Live also suggested some sort of system like this as most agreed it is accidents that typically delay their journeys by sometimes hours.

Deputy Wall also called for hourly train services to Heuston Train Station, saying: "Many of the current train services in rural commuter counties are already bursting at the seams as well, and hourly train service must also bring on stream additional carriages to meet demand."

Generally, he urged for greater investment in rural public transport options to alleviate traffic on the roads. For example, he suggested a dedicated bus lane on the M7 and N7 to offer enhanced public transport services for commuter counties. According to Deputy Wall, TII has confirmed they will engage with the NTA on this proposal.

In terms of remote and hybrid working, he said: "The current right to request remote working is a gutless policy that has no real meaning for workers. Government must bring forward legislation to allow employees to have a meaningful right to request flexible and remote working.

"The current approach has failed our people. Employers have all the power to refuse requests for flexibility, despite the fact that many people made life decisions on the basis that they could benefit from flexible work during Covid."

Deputy Wall said the housing crisis is pushing people out of Dublin and so something must be done for those who are forced to commute there because they can't live there.

He said: "There’s a perfect storm happening now leading to long commuting times, high stress, delays, and poorer quality of life for people. 

"Shivers will run down the spines of people at the thoughts of returning to the motorway misery in January. Let’s deal with this once and for all."

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme