By Róise Collins

A PUBLIC meeting has heard of the traffic chaos facing residents and businesses in Letterkenny.

The meeting, held in Oldtown on Wednesday evening, was chaired by Áontú representative Mary T Sweeney. It was attended by Deputy Charles Ward and his colleagues from the 100% Redress Party, as well as local business owners, developers and local residents.

All shared the same concerns regarding traffic and congestion facing the growing town.

Speaking to the Donegal News following the meeting, Ms Sweeney said she was disappointed more elected representatives were not present to hear the concerns that were brought forward.

One striking contribution came from a 12-year-old schoolgirl who spoke of how she is late to school every day because her school bus gets caught in the congestion on the Oldtown Bridge.

Another contribution came from a wheelchair user who is forced to cross the road at various points on his way to town each day because there are not adequate footpaths in place.

Traffic in the Oldtown area.

One man even presented a map of the plan for Letterkenny drawn up almost 20 years ago, which outlined the million-euro relief road needed to ease congestion, highlighting what he described as false promises that are still relevant today.

Another commuter spoke in frustration of how they spend their mornings stuck in traffic coming into Letterkenny.

One suggestion that was tabled was to change the direction of the flow of traffic on Letterkenny’s Lower Main Street up toward the Old Courthouse.

This would provide a third option for traffic coming in from Oldtown or Conwal to access the hospital, centres of industry, and schools and colleges above the hospital.

“That would take at least a third of the traffic out of the equation in the morning,” said Ms Sweeney.

“This is something the committee think the council should seriously consider.”

She believes that not only would this alleviate a lot of the strain on the bridge, but it would also bring business back to the shops on Lower Main Street.

Ms Sweeney also spoke about the Letterkenny town bus service. She asked why there is not one local bus coming over the Oldtown Bridge. Her comment was met with anger from those gathered, who felt the same.

They responded with applause in support of her statement.

Ms Sweeney stressed that the current public consultation system by Donegal County Council is not working and needs to be reviewed.

“Their consultation is very poor and needs to be more inclusive and comprehensive.”

The organisers of the meeting hope to make this the first in a series, visiting different areas of the town and listening to the public’s concerns.

“Because there are different issues in all the different areas,” Ms Sweeney said.

Details of the further meetings are to be confirmed in the coming days.