‘Talk to businesses’ members plead with local officials

The vexed question of traffic delays in Mullingar was raised at the April meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad by Cllr Ken Glynn. “In my opinion, and in the opinion of the people I represent, and in the opinion of many business people and many people that I have spoken to, the traffic light system in its present form is not working, continues not to work, and continues to cause frustration and problems,” he stated.

Cllr Glynn called on the district to immediately bring forward a solution to rectify the ongoing traffic delays and to start talking to the businesses in town on how they are affecting them on a daily basis.

The response from the district stated that staff are open to meeting the business community to address their concerns. “This could be facilitated through the Mullingar Chamber of Commerce,” the reply suggested.

Cllr Glynn countered that not all businesses are members of the chamber, and said they are coming to him personally, and to other council members, with their concerns.

He argued that the traffic problems are affecting businesses.

“The reality is that our businesses are the heart of our town, our small local businesses, and there are challenges out there,” he said.

“The last thing we need to see is people saying, ‘I’m not going to come to a particular business because the traffic does my head in’. So we need solutions.”

Among the potential solutions, he argued, were restoration of the filter lanes that were in place on Dominick Street, and turning to Castle Street. He was aware the executive was reluctant to go with his proposal that a roundabout be installed at McDonald’s.

Cllr Glynn reminded the executive that around two and a half years earlier, a solution had been approved unanimously by the members.

He said he accepted that the district had tried to “finesse” the smart traffic lights installed, but in his view, the system was not working.

“I would ask again, that we reach out to individual businesses and go into the business premises and talk to the owners and talk to the staff because that gives you a good representation… of what the problems are.”

He warned that excluding cars from town and replacing them with bicycles was not the solution.

Cllr Andrew Duncan supported the motion, and said in his view, the design put in place was one that deliberately intended to introduce bottlenecks so that the town would be less attractive for car travel: “That’s the only conclusion I can come up with,” he said, adding that he too agreed there was a need to reintroduce filter lanes and to replace the McDonald’s roundabout.

Frustration with the extent of the traffic delays was also expressed by Cllr Emily Wallace, who spoke of tailbacks going down past the arts centre, and out on the C-Link and the Delvin Roads.

“Every one of the members here have brought solutions or proposed solutions and not one of them have been introduced, bar the sequencing of lights,” Cllr Wallace said, adding that the population of Mullingar had grown since the enhancement works were carried out, as had the levels of car ownership.

“We are currently building new houses and can’t get them up fast enough and they are not walking and there is no public transport, so they are going to be using cars,” she said.

At the same time, she continued, retail businesses in Mullingar were under severe pressure, and they need customers to be able to access town.

Cllr Denis Leonard said it was a ‘Groundhog Day’ discussion: “This has come up so many times, and we seem to discuss it and we make the same points and we go around the same circle. And the only thing that’s being bypassed is a solution.”

While he agreed with all the suggestions made, he said the council should also use the new local area plan to encourage people who don’t need to use the middle of town to choose an alternative route.

Cllr Aoife Davitt said a consequence of the logjam is that the byroads and side roads around Mullingar are now becoming the new highways, and they are all suffering wear and year. She was also critical of the lack of supply to councillors of statistical data from the various traffic surveys carried out.

The mayor, Cllr John Shaw, agreed that it would be worthwhile meeting with the business community, and director of services, Deirdre Reilly, replied that she would be happy to do so, and that the meeting could be arranged with the Chamber of Commerce.

She said the issues at play seem to be that Mullingar has a thriving town centre that can’t deal with the number of cars coming through because of the increase in population, new housing, and employment. She said it might be worth emphasising to people about the ‘park and walk’ option. Cllr Glynn countered that not all businesses are members of the chamber of commerce, and he pushed for the executive to meet the street organisations instead. Ms Reilly said there doesn’t seem to be a definitive list of street organisations, but she was happy to meet at any time and talk about or listen to solutions.

Millmount

crossing

Cllr Glynn, at the same meeting, called for the provision of a pedestrian crossing close to Millmount given the increased pedestrian traffic from that general area towards the Ardmore Road.

The response from the executive stated that that location is currently being examined as part of a Strategic Active Travel Route to provide enhanced Active Travel facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

“Do we anticipate something happening this year?” he asked.

Director of services, Deirdre Reilly, said further information on what is planned will be circulated to members of the district in July, and Part 8 planning for any works to be done will be started in the third quarter of this year.

Austin Friars Street

A further request from Cllr Glynn was for provision of a loading area for bin collection services in close proximity to Austin Friar Street post office. The district’s response was that community wardens are working with local business owners to determine suitable locations for bin collection.

St Brigid’s Terrace

Cllr Glynn also asked that the district carry out surface repair works on the back road serving some of the houses at St Brigid’s Terrace. The response provided stated that €15,000 has been allocated in the 2024 estimates for works to the rear lane of St Brigid’s Terrace and O’Growney Terrace.