Years-long problem with traffic on busy Portlaoise road an 'embarrassment' for council

The lack of progress with traffic management on the Mountmellick Road in Portlaoise is an "embarrassment", according to Councillor Catherine Fitzgerald. 

Cllr Fitzgerald requested that Laois County Council provide an update on the installation of roundabouts on the road which are hoped to alleviate the traffic congestion at the November meeting of the Portlaoise MD.

The council responded that a draft Feasibility and Options Report as well as drawings were now prepared for the road study area on the N80 from Fairgreen to Market Square to JFL Avenue to St Peter and Paul's Church. However, Cllr Fitzgerald said she was "very disappointed" with this and that it only addresses the study rather than the Mountmellick Road itself.

The councillor told the meeting that she was "blue in the face talking about the Mountmellick Road" as the issue with traffic there has been going on for years.

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Supporting the motion, Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley added that the road is getting worse and pressure must be put on TII to address the problem. She said: "It's the one road into town that's been completely forgotten."

The possibility of traffic lights being installed on the road was raised by Cllr Paddy Buggy. However, Cllr Dwane Stanley said, as a daily user of the road, she "certainly would not be in favour of traffic lights." 

She said the existing two traffic lights there have caused "continuous problems" and "made no difference whatsoever to the traffic."

Director of Services at Laois County Council, Simon Walton, told the councillors that anything that needs to be done on the national road needs approval from the TII. He said the council has created a Feasibility and Options report in recent days and this must be revised and approved locally before presenting it to TII which it hopes to do in January.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme