Opinion: Roadworks on Kilkenny Rd are sheer stupidity

I NEVER read such a load of rubbish in my life as that contained in a statement by the local authority last week concerning the traffic plan on Kilkenny Road.

Anyone with eyes in their head is baffled by the current arrangements there, where a perfectly functioning traffic plan has been thrown into utter chaos costing a small fortune into the bargain, and for what? Residents, and anyone else who uses the road, have been wondering for months what logic was used.

Last week, we got our answer – stupidity.

In a statement to The Nationalist concerning the roadworks on Kilkenny Road, Carlow Co Council explained that under the ‘National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland’ ‒ there seems to be a name or framework for everything carried out in this country nowadays – ‘the needs of pedestrians must be considered first, followed by the needs of cyclists, then public transport and lastly private motor vehicles’.

It also said that ‘this policy should not be interpreted as an anti-car stance. The key issue is one of balance and the needs of the car no longer takes priority over the needs of other road users’.

If we lived in Utopia, I would agree, but we don’t. We live in the real world, and even while those walking the corridors of power would love for everyone to use public transport whenever possible, the sad reality is that we do not have a national public transport system capable of meeting the needs of the people.

Yes, there are buses, yes there are trains, but if you live in rural Ireland, I can safely say without a car you are in trouble.

Once upon a time, when the VEC was located next door to the RTC, the footpaths were four deep with students making their way to both. The VEC is no longer there, and while some students do actually walk to the relatively new Tyndall College and SETU campuses, the number of cars parked in those car parks and surrounding housing estates tells another story.

All is quiet on that front at the moment – both institutes of education are off for the summer – but during the winter months, anyone with any knowledge of Carlow knows not to try to get into town using the Kilkenny Road.

The first sign of trouble starts at Tyndall College, where Mammy or Daddy insist on dropping their loved one at the entrance, no matter what the consequences, and it only goes downhill from there.

As for those using buses, the new traffic arrangements actually make it more difficult for them to pull up to either collect or offload passengers. And God forbid any of the residents living along that stretch of road want to go into town: even if they live on the left-hand side, it will mean they have to cross the white line into the path of oncoming traffic, and all the while there is a designated three-metre-wide path set aside for the non-existent pedestrian.

However, the statement issued by the council went on to point out that ‘the issues faced when accessing the public road from this area are no different to those faced for the past 30 years and are no different to those faced by the majority of property owners in urban areas’.

Wrong. Until all these unnecessary changes were made, I used that road five days a week to get to work. Not now. I can’t. The traffic jams are infuriating and time consuming. It can take up to 40 minutes or more to get from the Woodford Dolmen Hotel into Shamrock Square.

Now I get onto the motorway, drive to exit 4 at Castledermot and then turn left to drive back into town. It sounds ridiculous, but believe it or not, I can get from the Powerstown exit into Shamrock Square via exit 4 in half that time or even less if there are no road works along Dublin Road.

But while it is great to vent our grievances now that the new arrangements are in place, nothing will change – at least for the foreseeable future. The council points out that it had conducted two independent safety audits, whose recommendations had been implemented, and a further audit will be carried out after the works are completed.

What does that mean? If the residents living there and the rest of us using the road continue to complain, are they going to rip up the plan and revert back to the way it was? I don’t think so.

The statement further noted that ‘health and safety site inspections are ongoing with the recommendations incorporated into the construction management plan’. What does that mean? Surely if someone has to drive over the white line into the path of oncoming traffic just to turn left to get into town, that constitutes a danger.

Like many statements I have read in the past, there are a lot of words used to try to excuse the inexcusable when only one word is needed – and it starts with ‘bull’.