‘Madness to be starting more road works before Christmas’

By Chris Ashmore

A LOCAL councillor has described the on-going Active Travel works for cycle lanes and new pedestrian pathways in Letterkenny as “crazy” and has repeated his call for them to be deferred to after Christmas.

Cllr. Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly’s comments come as new Active Travel works between Ballyraine Roundabout and the Creameries Roundabout in the town commence this morning.

“I think it is madness to be starting these works in the middle of November, coming up to Christmas,” he said.

He highlighted that there are real concerns about the Active Travel works at Ballyraine and also over the works beside the hospital on the Kilmacrennan Road, and the effect the works will have on the town’s Christmas shopping trade.

“My opinion is not going to change,” he insisted. “Here we are in the run up to Christmas and the town is jammed to the hilt.”

Cllr. Kelly made his comments at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.

Asking again for a deferral of work, he added: “If I had my way I would prefer if they did not go ahead at all. We need an in-depth conversation on Active Travel.”

Senior Executive Roads Engineer Roads & Transportation, David McElwaine, explained that in relation to the Ballyraine-Creameries roundabouts section the works before Christmas will essentially be the contractor “getting set up” and the real works will be in January.

Cllr. Kelly maintained that “it is not going to work” and noted how there are so many posts on social media in relation to the traffic in Letterkenny, “and there are constantly stories about avoiding the town. It’s mayhem,” he declared.

Meanwhile, he said that they had been led to believe that it was a case of “use it, or lose it” in relation to the funding for Active Travel projects.

However, he added: “From conversations I have had with councillors in other parts of the country, it can be used elsewhere on safety aspects, such as ramps and signage.”

Seeking clarification, he said: “If this is correct, use it appropriately and not be digging up good footpaths around the town for cycleways that are not going to be used.”

Taking issue with some of Cllr. Kelly’s comments, Cllr. Gerry McMonagle said that to suggest the Active Travel projects – like the works currently on the Kilmacrennan Road – is creating traffic congestion is “just not correct.”

Elaborating, he said there is still one lane in and one lane out. “It is a wider problem. The town doubles in size every morning from 23,000 to 50,000 with people coming into it.

“It is because of the volume of traffic, not because of particular road works, we need to be up front about that,” he stated.

“Stopping Active Travel will not change the problems we have daily. We need to be careful about new initiatives and road works but we cannot be blaming them for traffic congestion as it was there for long before, and it will be there until we have the Ten-T (Bonagee link) and northern and southern relief roads.”

Cathaoirleach Cllr. Ciaran Brogan requested they have a meeting with the local authority’s Chief Executive and also Road Design.

“It’s important to get a balance, it’s about how we manage this message, Letterkenny is open for business. People at a senior level in the council need to meet with us,” he said.

Mr. McElwaine said he would pass on the comments raised to the relevant sections.

He also confirmed that Active Travel works will not be deferred until after Christmas.