"I think we have made a number of mistakes with this plan".
Those are the words of local councillor Adam Wyse, on the back of the roadworks at the Farronshooneen Roundabout in Waterford City. Delays of up to 35 minutes were reported in recent weeks at the junction, with added delays reported due to a road traffic incident at the Knightswood Estate this morning.
Speaking at the most recent Metropolitan District Meeting of Waterford City and County Council, councillor Adam Wyse says people are becoming frustrated with the current system.
"There's obviously huge delays and congestion, and I'm sure other councilllors have been contacted about it. I am happy to see that we are investing in cycle lanes and trying to improve pedestrian safety, but I think we have made a number of mistakes with this plan.
"One is that when you are coming from the Ring Road onto the Farronshooneen roundabout, people are flying up the left lane to try and skip all of the traffic causing a lot of road rage and anger when people are trying to get into the lane."
Project Cost/ Lane changes from Farran Park
Councillor Wyse continued, asking for the cost of the project to be made public.
"When is it going to actually be finished and what is the total cost of the project? If we could have that said publicly.
"I am looking at the plans going back to 2022. Regarding the lane coming from the Farran Park side towards the Farronshon roundabout, on the plan I have in front of me now, it was always going to remain two lanes, but now it's being reduced to one lane permanently."
Councillor Mary Roche was also present at the meeting and added her comments to the situation.
"We have all been inundated with complaints. The traffic from the Dunmore Road is backed up to the end of the Folly quite literally, I mean it is just extraordinary.
"Also, we have scheduled roadworks on the Dunmore Road at the same time the Farronshooneen roundabout has been blocked up, so I really think that we need to have a look at the whole management of this.
"The contractor got on site and nothing happened for the first couple of weeks. People are frustrated, but they are understanding, but when they see delays like this, they get even more frustrated.
"I too have the design that Cllr. Wyse has, and I would be surprised to see that go down to one lane, particularly coming from a two-lane on the ring road.
"It has worked well in the past. It's a very busy road and I think we need to work with the active travel team and have a look at it again.
Response from the council
In response to the concerns raised by local representative Adam Wyse, Senior Engineer for Roads with the council, Gabriel Hynes, gave the following response.
There are certain restrictions in place in relation to timing, in that we get an allocation in the current year and the NTA require the money to be spent. In relation to nighttime work, given that there are residents in the facility it is not something that we can accommodate. While it benefits traffic we cannot disturb residents.
"As well as that, it leads to increased costs and the time it takes to do the work normally is doubled. You are then left with double costs, double-timing and considerable noise nuisance at unsociable hours.
"I know we have issues relating to traffic. We have made some changes in relation to the contractor so that the stop-and-go system that is in place is as practical and free-flowing as possible.
"In relation to the reduction in laneways and costs, I will have to refer that to the active travel team and they will have to come back to you in relation to how those changes were made."
Public consultation
The Active Travel scheme at Farronshooneen was advertised for public consultation from 22nd February 2022 to 22nd March 2022, inviting submissions before 04th April 2022.
Council representatives were presented with an S38 report available here at a Metropolitan sitting of Waterford City and County Council in May of 2022.
Nine submissions were received during the statutory consultation period relating to the works including the practicality of the project and proposed changes.
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