Offaly election hopeful warns of traffic lights causing 'multiple issues'

Local election candidate for the Ferbane, Joe Wynne (Ind), has highlighted issues surrounding the traffic light system currently in operation in Cloghan, pointing out that the system as it stands is causing problems for both drivers and the future of the town itself, including traffic delays.

"The Cloghan lights are creating multiple problems, and there's just no getting away from that fact," he remarked.

"For the sake of the people in that community, it needs to be solved, and fast. It's essentially a problem that has, unfortunately, been created by the installing of the lights and a lot of what happened around that process."

"Action needs to be taken to set about resolving these issues without delay." 

Mr Wynne went on to give examples of the problems raised by residents during his visits to Cloghan. 

"There are build-ups of traffic at times where there never was before, when traffic was able to flow through the old roundabout."

"But now long lines of traffic can suddenly form without any need for that to happen. And people aren't stopping in the town anymore, either, because the traffic light system seldom offers that chance. People are travelling to Banagher and Ferbane rather than get caught in an unnecessary delay," Joe said.

And this is having a  detrimental effect on local shops. Because of how that area was redesigned as well, if you're looking to make the turn in the Ballysheil, Belmont direction, you need a supply of patience and luck that something as simple as taking a turn should never require."

According to Mr Wynne, while the original idea may well have been for traffic-flow to become smoother, what he's seeing and hearing from locals is that the lights are actually turning Cloghan into "a town that people will only ever see through their car windows as they pass through."

He went on to say: "For small businesses in a town like Cloghan, if you're talking about that happening, you're talking about a death-knell being sounded. The frustrating part for locals, and I agree with them completely, is that these problems shouldn't exist."

"But more importantly than that at this stage, is recognising that these problems can all be fixed, and it's my intention, by working with all parties concerned, to do everything that I can to make sure that's exactly what happens," Joe concluded.