Farronshoneen Roundabout

Looks like that house is staying put

it’s a looser and less planning regulation that most people are looking for these days is it not….? how often do we hear stories in the media lamenting that our current planning laws/system costs the country jobs / delays projects such as Dublin’s metro for decades….given most people’s opposition to change if the council was expected to carry out full planning for every minor thing they wish to do (even ‘trials’ such as passage rd one way ) then I doubt much bar ‘holding meeting after meeting ‘ would take place…🤔

They say a picture paints a thousand words. If that’s true, then the video currently circulating on Facebook by Damien Tiernan regarding the traffic in our town paints a picture of mismanagement, and policy failure.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EnRMmwR5e/

If you haven't watched the clip yet, you don't really need to; if you live here, you’ve likely lived it. a "traffic system" that seems explicitly designed to stop traffic rather than move it.

The footage captures the grim reality of the congestion on the Quays, but let's be clear: this isn't an accident. This isn’t the result of a freak breakdown or an unexpected influx of visitors. This gridlock is the direct, predictable result of decisions forced onto this town by our local council.

The primary culprit is visible to anyone with eyes, though apparently invisible to our town planners: the absurdity of the traffic light sequencing.

As the video highlights, we are currently being strangled by a chokepoint of three sets of traffic lights in incredibly close proximity. You have the lights at the Credit Union, the lights at Waterford Crystal, and the lights at the Tower Hotel.

Any traffic engineer worth their salt should understand the concept of flow. Yet, what we have here is a stuttering mess. The inclusion of the second set of lights at Waterford Crystal is the most baffling decision of all. Situated practically on top of the Credit Union junction, it serves no logical function for safety or flow. It is redundant.

Actually, calling it "redundant" might be too kind. It feels less like an oversight and more like a deliberate tactic. It seems the only purpose those lights serve is to intentionally slow down traffic, creating a stop-start nightmare that backs up vehicles for hundreds of meters. It creates a wall of steel where there used to be movement.

But the council didn’t stop at the lights. To ensure the chaos was absolute, they overhauled the Quay, reducing it to a one-lane system. When you combine a single lane—leaving drivers with zero escape routes or overtaking options—with a triad of poorly synchronized traffic lights, you don't get traffic calming. You get traffic paralysis.

The video is visual proof that these changes have failed. We were likely told these changes were for "better flow," "pedestrian safety," or "green initiatives." Instead, we have cars idling for longer periods, pumping out more exhaust fumes, while drivers lose precious time out of their days.

It is rare that you can point to a civic problem and trace it back so clearly to specific bureaucratic decisions. The council took a functioning artery of our town and applied a tourniquet.

The lights at Waterford Crystal need to go, or at the very least, be synchronized intelligently with the Credit Union. The one-lane constriction on the Quay needs to be re-examined immediately. We cannot continue to let ideology trump practicality.

The video paints the picture, councilors. The question is, are you finally going to open your eyes and look at it?

The second video posted by Damien Tiernan regarding traffic gridlock in town, shows a visual of what it is like for an Ambulance to held up in traffic gridlock, all as a direct result by the councils decision to Impose a one way traffic system .

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D1XeTsC6D/

Another big problem there is when the tourist buses are all in and you get a line of them all pulling out at the same time. If you are stuck on the credit union / Deeveys side of the traffic lights you can be stuck there for the best part of 30 mins. Add in a lorry in at the lights and you're f*cked with the traffic tail back from the quays, traffic coming down Colbeck street and catherine street. They all pull into the yellow box so traffic gets blocked coming up Parnell street.

No doubt about it the WCCC's changes have caused the current traffic gridlock in the city centre. Every change they have made has led to this impasse. All the above points are spot on in everyway. If you drive/commute each day you can see where the bottlenecks, pinch points & mistakes in the current layout. If sit in an office and design these routes, road closures etc then you probably dont see what the everyday road user does.The WCCC have created gridlock where once traffic flowed. Now the gridlock persists for hours.

The main thoroughfare & through route is clogged. The current traffic light system does not allow for any flow. I'll use the example of what I endure each day. I work out the Dunmore Road. I live in Ferrybank. Approx distance door to door is circa 2.5km. Now the average commute time each way is edging close to the hour mark esp @ peak times. Coming down the Newtown Road in the evening the tailback usually begins near Newtown School. If you go down Water St/South Parade/Catherine St the tailback can sometimes be back to the little bridge by the Park.

Traffic lights @ Lombard St/Tower Hotel can change green to red multiple times before a car get thru. Out of frustration Ive seen many cars run red lights & block the yellow boxes in Lombard St & on The Mall. One Wednesday evening a few wks back it took me 40mins to get from the outside the Theatre Royal to just outside the GPO. The traffic lights situated @ Colbeck St/Credit Union are just as bad. Minimal movement of cars. The decision by the WCCC to close Bank Lane & close the cross over section with bollards by Regs Tower just adds to the amount of vehicles on the main routes.

Im not sure if the roads down by Poleberry are any better TBH. For a change I decided to try that route over to Ferrybank; i.e. across Poleberry, up Barrack St and across towards Military Rd. Surprise surprise… the traffic was backed up Johns Hill. Cars were stopped indicating to turn left get onto link road from just outside Delanys Pharmacy in Johnstown! By closing all the little roads some might call rat-runs you only add to the traffic on the main roads with are currently unfit to hold the volumes currently. I think the decision to close the through route thru Applemarket straight up to Barrack Street was misguided. The traffic lights by the Singer Sewing shop serve absolutely no purpose what so ever. Also making Alexander St one way up the hill rather than leaving it one way down was an error too.

Another poster also highlighted the main cause of the tailbacks on The Quay going towards The Bridge. The traffic lights! Especially the one at The Bridge Hotel. The green light only stays green for 30 seconds. Trust me Ive timed it. Meanwhile the green light for cars coming down or going up Bridge Street stays green for over 1 minute. Take into account the Green light for cyclists/pedestrians coming on in between regardless of whether anybody is there adds another minute to the delay on The Quay side. SO when the green turns to red and you are stopped outside The Bridge Hotel hoping to go across the bridge towards Ferrybank etc you will have to wait approx 2mins30s before a car has a chance to move again!

The pedestrian lights at The Clock Tower & the Bus Station also adds to the delays on The Quay. Surely there is a case for at least one of these to made a pedestrian crossing? Another poster also highlighted the lights @ House of Waterford Crystal - this needs to be a pedestrian crossing as its so close to the 2 sets of lights on either side of it. If someone pushes the button to cross it goes green immediately.

There is a growing frustration on the daily commute as the tailbacks continue to grow month on month. Its hard to accept some of the changes the WCCC have just imposed on us without any real consultation. Unelected jobsworths have closed streets, narrowed roads, inserted traffic lights & changed the flow of roads under the banner of "active travel". Listen I sit in the gridlock everyday and at most you would see 4/5 bikes cycle down the Quay in the evening. A similar amount in the morning. Simple fact is these days most households have multiple cars. There are more cars on the city centre roads now not less!

Is there any point in communicating with the WCCC? Doubt very much as they live in their own little bubbles & ivory towers! More interested in box ticking exercises. Anybody see the electric car & bikes up in Ballybricken for the GP to use? I'd love to know if any have been used since they have come on stream. Finally Ive never seen a member of the Gardai on streets directing the flow of traffic like they used to do once upon a time.

Are you WCCC active travel tzar Gabriel Hynes is disguise???

I drive coz the roads are lethal to cycle on. I've had many near misses cycling that route at peak times. Ever try cycling home in the dark at peak time in the pissing rain? FYI take a drive (cycle if you dare) over the Ferrybank DC some evening. Half the street lights are out.

Motorists aren't the problem it's the WCCCs active travel BS that have made the town gridlocked.

PS: We are not the Netherlands or Denmark. We don't have the infrastructure buddy. Our roads were made for driving cars. And that's the way the majority of commuters want it.

And a very interesting fact that seems to be missing from the argument

"There were 392,000 private cars in Ireland in 1980. By 2000, there were 1,486,632 private cars in Ireland."

How many cars are we at now almost 26 years later? Waterford is a viking/medieval city, narrow streets with one river crossing in the city centre.

There lies the issue, car usage has exploded over that period, as I said adding an extra lane on the Quay and removing lights won't solve the problem.

It's not fine.

Mornings, cars are all parked in the cycle lane from the top of de la salle, all the way to the park.

Traffic is backed up as far if the three ships, there is no cycle lane on lombard St which generally results in having to walk on the path, I'm not one for cycling on footpaths where pedestrians walk.

In the evenings, I spend a lot of time up and down on the path all the way up newtown as cars often drift into the cycle lane due to the lack of width.

The same by Grenville.

It's also not possible to cycle from world wide wiens to past UHW, the rest is fine and manageable but it definitely has it fair share of problems.

I bet he never tried to cycle uphill from Johnstown to farran park with his contraption ..he does realise that Waterford is very hilly