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https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/tralee-news/kerry-town-to-face-rising-traffic-congestion-over-drive-thru-plans/a909415892.html
Kerry town to face rising traffic congestion over drive-thru plans
New KFC at Manor West will offer a drive-thru service
The new KFC restaurant under construction at Manor. Photo Mark O'Sullivan.
An example of the gridlock caused by accessing drive-thru services at Manor. Photo Mark O'Sullivan.
The new KFC restaurant under construction at Manor. Photo Mark O'Sullivan.An example of the gridlock caused by accessing drive-thru services at Manor. Photo Mark O'Sullivan.
Stephen FernaneKerrymanToday at 07:01
Traffic on the R875 in Tralee regularly backs up due to the popularity of drive-thru services at Manor West. Evenings and weekends are particularly chaotic, with a makeshift third lane of traffic often forming as cars queue to turn into McDonald’s, spilling back as far as the Clashlehane Roundabout.
While people have every right to enjoy a takeaway, the disruption to traffic is becoming impossible to ignore. This stretch of road is already one of Tralee’s busiest, serving as the main entry point from Killarney and Castleisland.
With a new KFC set to open beside McDonald’s, concerns are mounting that congestion could worsen, posing safety risks – especially for emergency vehicles accessing University Hospital Kerry (UHK).
At around the same time in February when a KFC spokesperson announced it was ‘buzzing to confirm’ it will be opening a brand-new KFC restaurant at Manor West Retail Park, a HSE South-West meeting was discussing the dangers of ambulances being delayed because of drive-thru traffic on the R875.
A spokesperson at the meeting said the HSE was already preparing a separate entry point at UHK for ambulances. The volume of traffic at this stretch of the R875 can no longer be ignored as a safety risk due to the number of vehicles at Manor, many of whom are availing of drive-thru services.
The HSE’s comprehensive Traffic and Travel Assessment is to provide a detailed analysis, as well as staff and public travel surveys, of the area.
The HSE say the findings of this work will inform future decisions regarding traffic management and access arrangements to and around the UHK campus, including the identification and assessment of potential new pedestrian and vehicular access points.
“This will allow consideration of how access constraints, congestion at peak times, and emergency response requirements – particularly for the National Ambulance Service – can be addressed in a structured and evidence-based manner,” said Daniel Clifford, Director of Estates at HSE South West.
It begs the question how a further high-profile fast-food outlet can be granted planning permission when it will inevitably contribute to an already debilitating traffic crisis in this part of Tralee.
The planning application for KFC was submitted in December 2023 by Shadowmeadow Limited for the construction of a single-storey, flat-roofed sit-in/drive-thru restaurant.
The proposal includes the replacement of an existing vehicular entrance/exit on the eastern site boundary via the Manor West through road, provision of new on-site access, and car parking and bicycle spaces.
At the pre-planning stage, a traffic and transport statement was prepared by Coakley Consulting Engineers. It confirmed that the development’s traffic and drive-thru queuing ‘will have negligible impact’ on local access and public roads.
The development includes 30 parking spaces for a 249.5 m² sit-in/drive-through restaurant. While this ‘slightly exceeds’ the guideline of one parking space per 10 m² of floor area, it was considered appropriate given the inclusion of the drive-through component.
But parking is not the main concern in this instance, it is lines of traffic slowing down the flow on the main R875.
Under the Kerry County Development Plan 2022-2028, takeaways are noted as a concern due to increased pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The council’s aim is to prevent excessive clustering for social and logistical reasons. Coakley Consulting Engineers stated that KFC is appropriately designed and would not significantly impact the local traffic network.
It also says that peak usage at KFC’s drive-thru will be between 1 pm and 6 pm when an estimated 97 vehicles will produce queues of just one and three cars at the ordering point.
Moreover, the report states that with KFC’s fast service being ‘under four minutes’ per order, no significant impact on site operations, parking, or access junctions is expected, with traffic being distributed across likely customer routes.
Coakley Consulting Engineers assessed the junction off the R875 using short-term traffic observations, estimating a worst-case 20 vehicles per peak hour. Using a ‘TRL PICADY’ survey program, it concluded the junction is within capacity, with issues only expected if the flow-to-capacity ratio exceeds 85 per cent.
In conclusion, and ‘on the basis of this information,’ Coakley Engineering said access, parking, drive-thru queuing and traffic impact at the development would operate in ‘a safe and efficient manner,’ with minimal impact caused by the inclusion of a KFC outlet.
Kerry County Council granted permission for the development in May 2024, subject to conditions. The condition in relation to traffic safety only covered the handling of storm water from the building and paving around it.
Although traffic details related to the KFC building were thoroughly documented during the pre-planning stage, there appears to be limited analysis of current traffic patterns generated by existing drive-thru activity at Manor at peak periods.
Much of the KFC traffic assessment was conducted over three years ago, making it surprising that the sometimes unpredictable nature of traffic there today will remain unaffected by the addition of another popular fast-food outlet near the existing ones.
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