Traffic lights being monitored, say council

“Don’t be put off coming to Mullingar,” urged Cllr Denis Leonard when declaring that the new traffic light system in the town still needed some tweaking, but was much better than it had been initially.

At the monthly meeting of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District committee, on Monday of this week, director of services, Martin Murray, said that the performance of the traffic lights is being monitored and adjusted on an ongoing basis to ensure pedestrian safety and traffic flow is maximised.

He thanked the businesses and wider community for their patience and support during this important development – Mullingar Town Street Enhancement.

In reply to members, Mr Murray said that the feedback the council was getting was that the system was working well, but if they had any specific concerns he would address them.

Some members complained of hold-ups at the Dublin Bridge and it was suggested that a yellow box might help and others reported delays at Castle Street.

These issues are to be examined and monitored, councillors said.

Smart Traffic Lights can cancel out pedestrian phase

The Smart Traffic Lights at Dominick Street, Mullingar, can cancel out a pedestrian phase if the pedestrian has walked away, Cllr Aoife Davitt was told at the same meeting.

Cllr Davitt heard in reply to a question, that all of the push-button pedestrian lights in the town signal on demand, except on Mount Street, Martins Lane and McCurtain Street.

Those streets are one-way and the pedestrian phase comes on automatically when the traffic light is red.

This does not affect traffic movement in any direction and promotes better pedestrian flow.