Traffic problem is ‘blown out of all proportion’

The traffic problems in Mullingar have been “blown out of proportion”, according to the president of Mullingar Chamber.

At the November meeting of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District held on Monday of last week councillors went against the wishes of the executive and voted to reinstall the roundabout at McDonald’s in a bid to solve the county town’s traffic problems.

The news has been widely welcomed on social media by local people, who have grown frustrated by traffic congestion.

However, speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, John Geoghegan, the president of Mullingar Chamber, says that while the town’s traffic plan needs to be reviewed in order to improve traffic flow, he believes that it needs to be data based.

He says that one of the major reasons for Mullingar’s traffic congestion problems was the removal of “90 percent” of filter lanes in the centre of town as it creates “natural blockages”.

Before any major changes are made to the traffic plan, Mr Geoghegan says that “they need not get to the bottom” of what is causing the town’s congestion problems.

He added that he “gets” where Cllr Ken Glynn and other councillors who have been calling for the re-installation of the roundabout “are coming from” and “shares some of their frustration”. However, he says that “the proposal put forward as it stands is completely unclear and to what they are doing and when they are doing it”.

Mr Geoghegan said that a recent discussion on Midlands 103 about the town’s traffic problems was “one sided” and created bad publicity for the town.

“I think that the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. The headlines are killing are lot of positivity in the town. We have one of the best towns in Ireland. We have a 95 percent occupancy on our streets.

“It is our mission to promote Mullingar as a place to live and work. In our view that the upgrade enhancement of the town has been very successful. Aesthetically, it has brought the town forward 50 years in five years. It cost the best part of four to five million euro to do it.

“The process to do all this was lengthy, there was public consultations, there were meetings and it was approved by the executive and the elected members.”

Mr Geoghegan fears that if the roundabout is reinstalled without looking at the town traffic as a whole, it will only lead to problems elsewhere.

“You have to install four pedestrian crossings [when the roundabout is reinstalled]. You have to remove an entire section of footpath. You have to build a new roundabout in the centre of town, you are looking at 500 grand to a million quid.

“It’s a lot of money. I don’t want this council to spend another 500 grand or a million quid unless there is a clear plan.”