New road is only solution to traffic problems in Kilkenny town - local councillor
Road safety and the quality of life of people living in two areas of Kilkenny would be improved with new link roads, the county council has been told.
The only solution to alleviate the traffic volumes and congestion through Callan is to build a new filter road, one local councillor says.
Making the proposal, Cllr Joe Lyons said the West Street/ Mill Street route from the Callan bypass towards the motorway is now “extremely busy” and getting busier by the week.
At the September meeting of Callan Thomastown Municipal District councillors, Cllr Lyons said there had been a plan years ago to open up a new road connecting the R699 (at Duggan Steel, locally known as ‘Tube Rollers’) to the R698 road to Windgap.
Such a road would take heavy traffic out of the town, Cllr Lyons said, by bringing it around the back of the town.
He asked the area engineer to look into the possibility of such a project being undertaken.
Cllr Joe Sheridan didn’t hold out much hope of such a project request being successful. He said he was smiling at Cllr Lyons’ ambitious suggestion when other councillors were trying to get potholes filled.
It was a big ask, he said, but he supported Cllr Lyons’ suggestion 100%
Callan bypass
Cllr Lyons also raised the planned works on the N76 Callan bypass.
“Why do they keep refusing a roundabout?” he asked of the TII designers. Cllr Lyons is in favour of a roundabout on the route.
Area Engineer, Declan Murphy, said he would check with the TII, who are currently looking at a number of submissions on the project, following recent public consultation.
Consultants are currently incorporating ‘nature based solutions’ into the plan, following a lot of submissions in relation to the trees along the route, with landscaping, before the final design goes out to tender.
‘Rat run’
Moving his attention further north on the N76, Cllr Lyons also raised concerns with traffic on the road linking it with the N10/ M9 motorway, and the need for a new road to bypass communities along the route.
The current road is busy, he said, and it’s not fair to the people living there.
Safety works and signs have helped, he said, but traffic volumes are heavy.
Cllr Joe Sheridan agreed, saying he gets “five or six calls a week” from people in the Burnchurch and Sevenhouses area. “It is a ratrun,” he said. “There’s an unbelievable amount of traffic” using the road.
Mr Murphy said Kilkenny County Council have completed five Low Cost Safety Schemes between the N76 and the N10.
Cllr Sheridan said they have made traffic slow down.