'Consistent light-breaking' at junction in business park

“Probably the only set of lights that does work well in the town,” is how Cllr Ken Glynn described traffic lights at Mullingar Business Park, as he told colleagues at the September meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, that there is, however, a “rule-breaking issue there”.

Cllr Glynn asked that the district take measures to prevent the “consistent light-breaking” that goes on at that location.

He said the problem was “very much an evening time/night time issue”, and described how cars coming through the industrial estate are ignoring the lights, and taking shortcuts through the yard of a business to avoid sitting at the lights.

“There's nothing we as a council can do, and I appreciate that. But I would ask that we would write to the gardaí,” he said,

Backing his call, Cllr Emily Wallace said she had witnessed exactly what Cllr Glynn described that very morning when she saw a motorist taking off at a “completely inappropriate speed”.

She said Cllr Glynn had raised the issue a number of times in the past, and she had suggested raising the kerbs there to prevent cars driving up on the footpath to bypass stationary traffic.

District engineer, Pat Kavanagh, said the council has to have the consent of the business owner affected if they were to close off one of his entrances, thus shutting off the route that errant motorists are using.

The mayor, Cllr Mick Dollard, said that as a pedestrian, he sees a lot of rule-breaking going on, said there are people driving in Mullingar to whom he would not give a dog licence, never mind a driving licence.

The formal written response to Cllr Glynn’s motion stated that if the members were in agreement, a letter could be sent to An Garda Síochána about the issue.