Calls to abolish lorry tolls to tackle 'deadly dangerous' congestion in Laois towns

Local councillors have urged that the "huge problem" with lorries passing through small towns and villages in Laois be addressed.

Cllr Ollie Clooney raised the motion that Laois County Council introduce a weight restriction on the Tentore Road (R3657) in Ballacolla at the Borris in Ossory/Mountmellick Municipal District meeting on Wednesday, November 12.

He said that there is simply no room for the large lorries passing through Ballacolla due to the amount of traffic already in the village.

The council told Cllr Clooney that the introduction of a weight restriction would be assessed and evaluated following a site inspection at the road in Ballacolla.

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However, Cllr Clooney emphasised that this problem with lorries is not isolated to Ballacolla, but it is impacting small towns and villages across the county. He also noted that lorries are "choking" Abbeyleix and Durrow.

He did express the important role lorries have within communities and so suggested that a long-term solution to the problem could be to negotiate a toll-free system for lorries. Cllr Clooney said that they're understandably coming through villages to bypass tolls given the high costs of running lorries.

The Independent councillor argued that if there were no tolls for the lorries then "lorries would travel on the main roads and they wouldn't be coming into villages and towns."

He told the council: "Something has to be done. We have to have the weight restriction but the root of the problem is the tolls."

Seconding the motion, Cllr John King said: "School time is deadly dangerous in all our towns and small villages." He agreed that if tolls were reduced for lorries, it would lessen the traffic in towns and villages as well as the wear and tear on roads.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme