Yellow box at top of Mount Street would ease traffic jams

Traffic jams at the top of Mount Street and down to the McDonald’s junction and extra traffic at Newtown, Mullingar, and on the C Link road because of housing developments, were raised once more at the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

At the January meeting, Cllr Aoife Davitt asked for a yellow box at the top of Mount Street to allow the free flow of traffic there and in other areas of the town.

She was supported by Cllr Ken Glynn, Cllr Emily Wallace, who suggested the cobbles be painted, and by Cllr Andrew Duncan, who said the simple answer was the re-instatement of the right filter lane at the McDonald’s junction.

As a pedestrian, Cllr Mick Dollard declared that the problem was bad driving, and drivers “jumping the lights” – a yellow box was not the solution.

Director of services, Deirdre Reilly, said a lot of money had gone into installing a raised brick surface at the top of Mount Street and it would not be right to put a yellow box on top of that lovely pavement. She agreed that it comes down to driver behaviour and enforcement was the answer.

Cllr Davitt said if that is so, the sequence of the traffic lights would need to be altered to give vehicles coming off Mount Street time to clear the junction.

Ms Reilly said that can be examined but that the junction is working correctly, and it is drivers that are to blame.

Cllr Glynn asked what road safety improvements will be carried out along the road from Sunders Bridge to Newtown, ahead of the major housing development commencing in that area shortly. Residents of Newtown Lawns and the other housing estates on that road are already finding it difficult to exit and the new development will add to the traffic on the road, which is also being used to access the ring road.

There are exit points out of five or six estates there and one pedestrian cross, Cllr Glynn continued. He said there are a lot of dangerous bends on the road and the access point to the new development will also be off it.

He was seconded by Cllr Davitt, who pointed out that there is also a creche on the road. Residents’ concerns must be taken into consideration, she demanded.

Cllr Bill Collentine complained of a dip in the road, while Cllr Duncan said the motion was timely in view of the new housing, new bridge and a new estate at Newtown.

Ms Reilly agreed that there is a lot of activity in the area and it needs to be looked at. Active Travel will be looking at a new cycleway and pedestrian and vehicle access. Piecemeal conditions will be put on the developer and the road can be considered in the estimates, but it would represent a big contribution from the budget, she said.

District engineer Pat Kavanagh said the developer will be obliged to put in footpaths, street lighting, road markings and signage. There is not a huge amount more we can put on them, he said.

He said the council could look at putting in more chevron signs at the bends and improving road markings from the Russellstown roundabout to the urban area. “There’s not much more that can be done about speeding unless you narrow down the whole road which would involve considerable expenditure,” Mr Kavanagh said.

He announced that a bus stop, as part of the new Mullingar bus route, will be positioned along the road in question. Regarding “the dip”, Mr Kavanagh said that the sightline distances there comply with standards.

Cllr Mick Dollard proposed a sign each side of “the dip” as a low-cost measure that would create an awareness.

Cllr Glynn wants a full safety audit of the C Link road, in light of a housing development that will bring a significant increase in traffic. He said it was great to see so much building going on around the town, but it is creating problems for residents trying to get in and out of estates like Green Park, Ardilaun and Ardleigh, as traffic levels are increasing by the week, and will continue to do so, he said.

Cllr Andrew Duncan seconded his proposal, and said it took him longer to get from the Irishtown roundabout to the hospital roundabout than it took him to get from there to Kinnegad that morning. He called for another lane on the roundabout on the C Link road, saying that there is plenty of land to do so.

Cllr Denis Leonard said the C Link road was no longer a by-pass as it is going through built-up, residential areas. He condemned the notion of putting another 10,000 people into Mullingar or Athlone when, since 2007, there had not been a private house built in Kinnegad, not many in Rochfortbridge and only a few in Killucan.

If we are going to put everyone into Mullingar, we will have to embrace the town bus service, have a park and ride at each end, and a proper by-pass network, he added.

Cllr Emily Wallace said action needs to be taken as it is frustrating to drive on that road at busy times.

Ms Reilly said she would ask the district engineer to review the conditions of approved development plans along that road and ensure there is an overall plan, given the level of activity in the last 12 to 18 months.

She assured Cllr Davitt that the review would consider possible lane changes along that road.