Fears that Dublin Road traffic plans could ‘create bottleneck’
Cycle and pedestrian ways and traffic calming measures for the Dublin Bridge to the Mullingar Park Hotel could "create a bottleneck", Cllr Andrew Duncan fears. Speaking at a May meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, he condemned what he sees as an ongoing war against cars and drivers and warned that local businesses could suffer.
"When you start to widen footpaths, put in bicycle lanes, the next thing we will see is a proposal for a one-way traffic system, and that’s something I couldn’t comprehend," Cllr Duncan declared.
He said he did want to see the traffic slowed down, "but I think there are easier ways of doing it".
Cllr Duncan had asked that the council carry out a road safety audit along the Dublin Road where speeding was an issue. He was told that it is being examined as part of a Strategic Active Travel Route to provide facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, including traffic calming measures, to be constructed next year.
"Bearing in mind what we have seen with the last experts and consultants that designed the Mullingar Enhancement Scheme, I would be very nervous of this," he said.
Cllr Duncan accepted that speeding is an issue on the Dublin Road, but stressed that it is not a particularly wide road and "the last thing I would want to see is a bottleneck created there. That would be even more dangerous," he said.
Referring to "this kind of ongoing war on cars and drivers", Cllr Duncan said he believed a lot of these policies would change in time. "We don’t want to damage our town businesses and areas of long standing that have the best of facilities in them, where people have been safely able to drive for years. To try and turn them into bottlenecks, that is not going to be the answer," he said.
Supporting Cllr Duncan, chairman Cllr John Shaw asked when the design of the Strategic Active Travel route would be ready.
District engineer Pat Kavanagh said "a fair bit of detailed design" had been done. The plan is for construction in 2025, but there will be a Part 8 process and consultation along the way.