Roundabout to return at McDonald's after councillors overrule executive

Westmeath County Council has been told firmly by councillors that the roundabout is to be reinstated at the McDonald’s junction – 25 months after it was removed.

However the reinstallation of the roundabout won’t happen immediately: officials have stated that first they will have to carry out “a detailed assessment” of what is involved. They will also have to source funding and carry out a safety audit.

During a protracted debate on Monday at the November meeting of the Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, members argued strongly that the changes made during the town enhancement works had created a bottleneck at McDonald’s that has led to gridlock.

The subject was raised via a motion tabled by Cllr Ken Glynn, who rejected the official written response stating that any change was “premature” as there is a multi-modal transportation study planned for Mullingar.

“I'm back again with the same motion that I raised in May. I'm not here to try and score points and I'm not back here trying to be a great fellow. I'm raising it purely out of concern,” Cllr Glynn said, laying his cards on the table and stating that he would be seeking a vote on the issue.

“The people are speaking loudly and clearly out there. They're hugely frustrated.”

Cllr Glynn said he was formally asking the council to do what his council colleague Cllr Andy Duncan had said from the start would be the best possible solution: restore the roundabout.

“And let's get the traffic in this town moving.”

Mayor Aoife Davitt supported the motion: “This time last year we were sitting here debating the same thing,” she said, adding that “something” needed to happen.

Cllr Andy Duncan stood shoulder to shoulder with Cllr Glynn on the issue and said that even prior to the works starting, he had argued for retention of the roundabout.

The reality is, he said that the changes had created a bottleneck: “There is no point in burying our heads in the sand,” he stated, adding that the gridlock had cost the town business.

Cllr Duncan said two other issues are adding to the problem: the difficulty in getting out of Mount Street, and the danger at Blackhall for traffic exiting the town centre via the lane beside Dolan’s.

“Instead of diverting traffic down there, and into an industrial estate, would it not make much more sense to divert the traffic down Mount Street, and bring traffic in that way? Reverse the flow at Dolan’s and reverse the flow at Mount Street and see does that alleviate the problem,” he suggested.

A further simple solution that could also be attempted, he said, would be the installation of flashing orange lights at Mount Street junction and at the McDonald’s junction.

Cllr Hazel Smyth felt that at present the town centre was also not safe for pedestrians and cyclists; Cllr Denis Leonard remarked that car travel is back to pre-pandemic levels and said the traffic system in Mullingar does need to be re-examined. He cited the Green Bridge as another problem area.

Defending the council’s resistance to the reinstallation of a roundabout, council official Pat Keating said “The logic is that on a heavily-pedestrianised section of road, a roundabout is not a safe crossing for pedestrians”.

Mr Keating said he wasn’t clear on what the exact wording was of the motion members wanted passed, and he voiced reservations over what had been suggested as solutions: “I think it did work well last Christmas and there were no flashing lights on it. Today is November 8. I think it would be very premature to do anything with this at this stage. I think we need to look forward to having our free parking at Christmas; to getting our Christmas decorations and lights in place; to having our Christmas market and our winterfest and to getting our message out there that Mullingar is open for business.”

Mr Keating added that doing anything with the traffic at this stage will simply cause confusion.

Cllr Glynn stood firm: “The motion stands as is with the caveat of putting in a temporary solution in the interim and we can look at Cllr Duncan's suggestions in the new year. We are talking about the here and now. The here and now is put in a temporary solution. Put the lights on amber at that junction,” he stated, going on to explain that ultimately, he wants the roundabout reinstated permanently.

District engineer Dr Paul McCool spoke to advise against the installation of a flashing amber light arrangement, explaining that the streetlights are there to give priority to pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

“If you put these lights on flashing, they will have no security at all. They will be taking their chances against all this traffic,” he said.

Cllr Mick Dollard agreed with the District Engineer’s point, as did Cllr Hazel Smyth; and in view of the pedestrian safety concern, Cllrs Glynn and Duncan decided to run with the original motion.

No vote was taken as there was unanimous support.

Mr Keating cautioned that the process involved was neither simple nor assured:

“Obviously now the members have passed a motion, the executive will have to carry out a detailed assessment of what is involved,” he said.

Mr Keating said that at present the lights at the junctions “talk to each other”.

“That was a significant improvement that was put in in July August 2020,” he said.

The change would mean a complete reassessments would now be required on how the lights operate and talk to each other. The fact that there are pedestrian lights also is a further element.

“Once we get the assessment and design and the funding can be put in place to do it and it passes the safety audit, the council would then be in a position to implement what the members have looked for - if it passes those various elements.”