Killarney is lacking the political clout at a national level to find a solution to the tackle the traffic gridlock that has dogged the town throughout the summer months, a meeting of the municipal district council has heard.
The town needs a strong voice in government – preferably at the cabinet table – if a proper and workable traffic management plan is to be implemented.
At a special meeting of the council to discuss the chaos on the streets and the approach roads, it was acknowledged that the current Minister for Transport is preoccupied with getting people out of cars and encouraging them to walk or cycle and the development of new cycle lanes was his number one priority.
Cllr Niall O’Callaghan said he has never seen traffic so bad in Killarney and this summer has been “absolute and utter gridlock”.
He said Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s attitude is walker first, cyclist second and car user third and there is no traffic flow with delays at pelican crossings adding to the problem.
“Get the TII down here to assess what is going on. There are so many rat runs emerging that it’s an accident waiting to happen,” Cllr O’Callaghan said.
“Killarney is the best town in the world but we have to keep it the best town in the world,” he added.
“The people have to make infrastructure a big thing when people are knocking on their doors in a couple of months”.
Cllr Martin Grady said TII officials have to see what the local people have to go through every summer and the worst of the gridlock can be seen at the roundabouts at both ends of the bypass.
“People are circling the town looking for parking spaces. There is no point whatsoever in closing Main Street in the summer as people are not walking on the street,” he said.
Cllr Grady called for the road passing through the St Finan’s Hospital complex, from Rock Road to Lewis Road, to be reopened to traffic to ease some of the pressure.
Referring to the recent opening of a new €62 million bypass in Listowel, Cllr Grady asked: “Who is after prioritising Listowel over Killarney? Shame on them. They are after leaving Killarney down again.
“It takes more than a smiling face in the back of a vintage car on a bypass to get the job done,” he added.
Cllr Marie Moloney said there has been traffic mayhem in Killarney in recent months and the situation is at its worst at peak times from 5-7pm.
“The roundabouts are not keeping the traffic flowing as some drivers are blocking them. We are turning people off coming to town,” she said.
Cllr Moloney said there is a clear and obvious need for a park and ride system – now referred to as mobility hubs – given that it’s going to take years for the new bypass road to be built.
Cllr John O’Donoghue said there is no silver bullet solution to Killarney’s traffic problems but the provision of electronic boards indicating how many spaces area available in each car park would help with traffic flow.
He said there is also a need for more gardai to be stationed at roundabouts and junctions during the summer months.
Cllr O’Donoghue said there always seems to be parking spaces available in the Rock Road carp ark and he wondered if not charging a fee to park there would help the situation. He also said a rent-a-bike option – similar to the city bike schemes – might also be of assistance and the matter should be pursued with the local bicycle hire companies.
He said the location of the pedestrian crossings at the roundabouts in Cleeny and at Daly’s on park Road was causing mayhem.
“We need to get back to the TII and say we accept they have guidelines on pedestrian crossings but they are not working,” Cllr O’Donoghue said.
Cllr Brendan Cronin said traffic volumes have dramatically increased in Killarney, all the roads are choked and every back road is being utilised.
“Mill Road, in particular, is suicide. People don’t want to walk or cycle there anymore,” he remarked.
“All the minister is interested in is cycle lanes. Please God, the people will change that when they have a chance. I have never seen a queue of cyclists except on the day of the Ring of Kerry Cycle.”.
Cllr Cronin said two years ago a survey indicated that 18,480 vehicles were using the Killarney bypass every day and the most recent survey has it up to 22,890 per day.
“Killarney is choking. We have no escape route unless the minister intervenes,” he said.
Cllr Niall Kelleher said Killarney has no political influence at the moment.
“We need to get the money to do the jobs we want to do but we need influence to get what we approve over the line. Killarney is lacking the political clout we need to deliver what we want to deliver,” he remarked.
“The minister for cycle lanes hasn’t even given us the money to build them,” he said.
Cllr Kelleher said while the left-turn only option at the top of Lewis Road was the right thing to do, it has made the situation at the Cleeny Roundabout much worse.
“The problem is that when people reach roundabouts, many of them stop in the middle of it because they don’t feel safe to go,” he said.
He urged council officials to put a drone watching the roundabouts for a two-hour period in the evenings to see what was happening.
“It will astound you,” he remarked.
Mayor Maura Healy-Rae said in addition to the obvious need for the new N22 bypass, action needs to be taken to deliver the inner relief road at Bohereen Na Goun and the new junction on the bypass with links to Kilcummin and Park Road.
She said there is a major issue with the policies of Minister Eamon Ryan but, in relation to political clout, some people have been fighting for Killarney in the Dáil.
“We have a minister at the cabinet table and another government TD in Kerry as well,” she said.
Kerry County Council Director of Roads and Transport, Frank Hartnett, gave councillors an up-to-date report on the status of all roads projects in the area but the common theme was that while many projects had been advanced significantly, funding streams still have to be provided.
It is important, he suggested, that the roads infrastructure locally is included in the Programme for Government going forward.
In the meantime the council is actively seeking suitable locations for a park and ride system and, although Mr Hartnett said he is not so sure that people will get out of their cars, it will give them an option.
He noted that while the current government has put a big emphasis on the development of cycle lanes, the reality is that cars are responsible for 75 per cent of trips int he town and, even though it is being promoted, cyclists are responsible for just two to three per cent.
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