Laois residents demand action over ‘treacherous’ Portlaoise shortcut traffic

Residents on the only side of Portlaoise still without a ring road have united to demand action by Laois County Council, due to heavy traffic taking short cuts past their homes on winding country roads.

The descriptively named Crookedy road starts near housing estates on the north edge of Portlaoise, off the N80 Mountmellick road. It leads to the Dublin road via the narrow Ridge Road. It lies next to lands earmarked for the planned N80 Portlaoise bypass, which is still unfunded by the state.

One resident went to the trouble of counting cars before 9am, and reached over 400. The newly formed Ridge Road / Ballytegan / Crookedy Residents Association held a meeting on Monday, September 15.

The group got their voices heard at the September meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, when three councillors tabled three separate motions asking for action.

Cllr Marie Tuohy, Cllr Tommy Mulligan and Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald all spoke on their behalf.

“We’ve all been contacted about this. They are very busy roads but were never designed to take the traffic that’s on them now. One resident videoed from half past seven in the morning until nine and got over 400 cars past her house in Ballytegan. Speed is an issue as well. It really is a genuine safety concern,” Cllr Tuohy said.

She handed in a petition with 90 signatures and asked the council what solutions will work, and how long it will take.

Cllr Mulligan’s motion asks the council to engage directly with the residents’ group, and identify traffic calming and road safety solutions.

He notes that the N80 bypass road is not in the National Development Plan so it does not qualify for funding.

“There’ll be another review of that in two years so unfortunately it’s years away. This is an immediate concern.

“There have been many serious accidents there. A good friend of mine was hit going around a bend in 2022. Residents are demanding action. Their quality of life is being impacted. When they are exiting their homes they are really fearful of the speed.”

He asked and got the agreement of the area engineer Wes Wilkinson to meet with the group.

Cllr Fitzgerald said “it’s a very serious road safety issue”.

“This is a very old road, and when Portlaoise had less than half the population it has now, we had plans for a bypass. It’s absolutely treacherous on that road. Residents are living in constant fear of vehicles travelling at excessive speeds. We cannot wait for another serious accident on the Ridge Road.

It’s not designed for that volume of traffic. Residents are very determined they are not going to put up with it. They’re talking about every possible action they can take to help road safety in their area, and I know they are serious,” she said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley supported the motions and noted she had tabled several in the past.

“People are using the Ridge Road and Crookedy as a shortcut because of the traffic congestion on the Mountmellick Road. We can’t wait for the long term project, we need action, temporary solutions until the bigger road is done,” she said.

Cllr Paddy Buggy who lives off the Ridge Road himself, said “speed is outrageous at times”.

“People there are paying their local property taxes, all the taxes to keep the country going and deserve to have a safe road to travel on.”

The council acknowledges issues over “increasing urban traffic pressures”.

Director of Services Simon Walton promised action.

“I give a firm commitment here that the council will investigate this and develop a traffic calming scheme. It most likely will include some revision to the speed limit.

“I know the PNOR (bypass) is only a line on a map but it does form the northern development boundary and sections of the road are inside that boundary, it’s a strong case to be made for a 50km speed limit. In turn that opens opportunities for traffic calming measures.

He said that a review of urban speed limits in Laois is due to be complete in October and if then approved by councillors, the roads in question can next be considered for a lower speed limit. The 50km limit would then open the door to measures like speed ramps.

In an official reply to the motions, the council’s road designers are going to “assess the road corrridor in the near future”, running from the Dublin Road to the N80 Crookedy junction.

They note the recent and ongoing residential developments in the area, and proposed future developments, along with the now named N80 Portlaoise Bypass. They will look at potential traffic calming measures and at the current speed limits.