Traffic mayhem on Tullamore housing estate set to get even worse

What appears to have been a lack of foresight and planning in relation to a new social housing scheme in Tullamore, looks set to exacerbate an already hazardous traffic problem in Arden View.

The huge level of traffic and congestion at St Joseph's and Scoil Eoin Phoil, both of which are located on the Arden View estate, is causing serious issues not only for motorists dropping off and collecting their kids from school but also for the local residents who say they are unable to get out of their houses until after 9.30am each morning due to the large number cars coming in both directions and parked everywhere.

Add to that a new social housing scheme leading onto Arden View which is due to open soon, bringing even more traffic onto the estate, and it's not hard to see why residents are extremely worried.

In addition large volumes of traffic use Arden View to get from the Arden Road onto the Clara road.

Oaklee Housing is currently finalising 41 houses in Kearney's Field, which will accommodate 170 people. There is only one entrance and exit from the site and that is onto what has been up to now a quiet cul-de-sac on Arden View where many elderly people reside.

One local resident has described the new scheme as an extension to the Arden View houses.

''We didn't know anything about it until the signs went up that they were looking for planning permission. They never had a meeting with any of the residents up here, they said they did, but nobody I asked got a letter to attend a meeting. They didn't want to listen at the start, now it's too late to do anything, If there is ever a fire here or an ambulance needs to get through I don't know what will happen. When we said about the increase in traffic we were told ramps will be put in. Ramps are not going to stop the traffic,'' said the resident who wishes to remain anonymous.

In a motion at the February meeting of Tullamore Municipal District, Councillor Sean O'Brien called for a meeting to be held between residents, gardai, councillors and the school to try to find a solution.

''We are all aware of the situation at St Joseph's school, there is a lot of traffic parking on the road and parents double parking. There have been some very close calls there. I would hate to see a serious accident there. Parents are concerned, residents are concerned. There is also going to be added to it the new housing scheme at the rear of Arden View, traffic from that is going to be entering and exiting onto the cul-de-sac, that will cause a huge bottle neck,'' said Cllr O'Brien.

''All in all it's looking like it will be a serious problem. There has to be some safety measures. There has to be changes to what is happening there particularly at the cul-de-sac. We need to get together ASAP. I suggest the council facilitate a meeting of all stakeholders in the family resource centre sometime in the near future.'' he said.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Tony McCormack who said it has been an issue for a long long time. ''I remember when I was a member of the board of management at St Joseph's, we met with gardai, the local residents and parents to put in some sort of traffic plan in place. We worked with the gardai,'' he said. Cllr McCormack said the plan worked for a while but then people got into the same bad habits. ''I'm very alarmed at the moment as we are going to have extra traffic coming onto the cul-de-sac. We need to look at that. The last thing we want is to have an accident,'' he said.

Councillor Declan Harvey, said a traffic management plan at Scoil Mhuire was ''a great idea. The congestion is not as bad as it was there,'' he said

Councillor Ken Smollen, said he fully supported the motion. ''I know this issue was raised before, it is only a matter of time before a tragic accident happens there,'' he said.

The Cathaoirleach of Tullamore Municipal District, Councillor Neil Feighery, said that ''any efforts or work that can be done to alleviate that would be welcome.''

Director of Services Tom Shanahan said the ''New Social Housing Development underwent a full public consultation and part 8 process in 2018/2019. The development is an extension of an existing cul-de sac in Arden view, and will continue to be a cul de sac.''

Mr Shanahan went on to say that the overall traffic situation around Arden View will be assessed under the area based transport assessment and cycling strategy. He said ''in the interim some traffic calming measures will be considered.''

Oaklee Housing received the green light for their new €9.5 million construction project in Kearney’s Field, Tullamore in 2019, working in partnership with Offaly County Council.

The development consists of a mix of one to four bedroom general needs homes, including two wheelchair accessible houses.