Gridlocked Thurles needs a ‘new traffic plan’ say councillors

Regular traffic congestion in the town of Thurles is causing headaches for motorists, where traffic at peak times chokes the town centre and results in long tailbacks.

Traffic congestion has become so bad in the town that local Councillors want a completely revised traffic management plan, which they feel will complement the upcoming Liberty Square enhancement project.

The issue was raised at the monthly meeting of the Municipal Council in Thurles on Tuesday last, where local independent councillor Micheál Lowry said motorists in Thurles have expressed their dissatisfaction with the current traffic regime to all local representatives.

With the development of new housing areas and large retail outlets anticipated for the town centre in the coming five years, Cllr. Lowry said he fears the already creaking traffic infrastructure will become too overburdened and exacerbate the heavy congestion affecting Thurles town.

Cllr. Lowry received strong support from his fellow Thurles Councillors in his criticism of the current traffic system.

He said that said Thurles needs to be “looked at as a whole in terms of traffic” and said that minor adjustments made to one street at a time in the past “on an ad hoc basis” have yielded poor results.
Speaking on the issue of road flooding as a result of recent heavy rainfall, Cllr. Lowry said he feels the local authority have lost the traditional skills of how to relieve waterlogged roads – skills that do not require modern machinery.

Many rural roads are suffering from unprecedented levels of flooding and Cllr. Lowry recalled that in the past local men with knowledge of the terrain and watercourses could release a flood from a road with hand-tools such as a crowbar and shovel.

Modern equipment often results in the mouth of drains becoming compacted with sludge and debris, as the bucket fails to precisely clear the blockage, he said.

“One man who would arrive to the flood on a bicycle would empty the water off a road in five minutes with a crowbar and do a better job than any machine,” Cllr. Lowry said, calling for the local authority to examine how they deal with road flooding.