New bus routes vital to improve ‘connectivity over Castletown River'
Cllr. Ciaran Fisher said the traffic problems that emerged from the roadworks being carried out has 'once more drawn attention to the poor connectivity across the Castletown River.'
Speaking after the meeting, he told independent.ie 'While I welcome the improvements to Bridge Street and Linenhall Street, and I think they provide a much nicer approach to the town over the Newry bridge, I'm wary that anti-car design may cause it to be a traffic hotspot.
Time will tell on that one, but one thing that is for sure, is that the lack of bus connectivity forces thousands of people every week to use their cars to get around.'
'The roadworks will only be finished at Bridge Street and we'll be looking at the Lisdoo junction and Armagh road improvements, so there is more congestion in the same area to come.'
Cllr. Fisher pointed to a recent survey of traffic which estimated that on a typical workday, Newry bridge had 5000 plus cars on it. 'The Táin bridge has traffic of 16000+ cars on a similar given day. Approximately 4000 people a day leave the 'northern region' of the Dundalk area to come south into its other parts.'
He added: 'If Transport Ireland wants to make an instant improvement in how people travel, and to reduce the traffic, a new bus route servicing the north of the town is needed.'
He highlighted gaps in the bus services in the south of the town, saying there are 'no stops on the Avenue Road or Tom Bellew Avenue, not to mention the sprawl of houses on the south west of the town.'
"Ath Lethan and the Lisdoo/Armagh Road are crying out for a bus service and have an enormous two way bus demand, in and out of the town.'
He explained: 'This is why I have resurrected this with the Active Travel team and implored them to get behind these proposed routes. There was a proposal to do so in the Local Transport Plan and I think it should be not just looked at, but enacted.'
At the Municipal meeting he asked about the prospect of this happening, and mentioned how this would take cars off the road and reduce traffic.
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The meeting heard that the Council have been recently in touch with Transport Ireland about making this a reality.
"The conversations have centred around routes and road ownership so far. And while there is a way to go yet, it's a stepping stone in the right direction.'
He added: 'Meanwhile, the population on this side of the town is only going to grow. There is considerable strain on the water infrastructure on the south of town and planning has been granted for a sizable development out the Lisdoo Road in recent times, this only strengthens the case to get the transport infrastructure in place.'
The Dundalk Councillor said: 'I'm asking for a carrot before stick approach, make it easier to people to choose not to take the car and sit in traffic, before talking about reducing road space, reducing car parking spaces and making it constantly more expensive to run a car.'
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