Portlaoise students 'dodging traffic' at broken pedestrian crossing lights
Busy Laois chool crossing out of order for over four months
Danger continues for Laois students at a pedestrian crossing that was reported broken last year but remains unfixed.
The crossing is at Portlaoise College, the only one in the area with controlled traffic buttons, also serving Scoil Bhride NS next door, with a combined pupil population of nearly 1,700 children. It also serves adults in the Portlaoise Institute third level college.
Portlaoise Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley reminded Laois County Council about it this week, at the March meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District.
"The traffic lights at Portlaoise College are still not back in use.
"I was driving past one day last week. There was a lot of roadworks there with the bustops being installed. I saw children coming out of the school, halfway out on the road to see if someone was coming.
"They are dodging traffic at the moment because it's chock-a-block," she said.
Director of Services Simon Walton described it as "a bad situation".
"I don't have a date when it will be fixed. There are controller issues. It's a bad situation, the lights have been out for a considerable period. There are two or three controllers needed across the county. I will get an update," Mr Walton said.
Last January, a concerned resident in the area contacted the Leinster Express / Laois Live to complain at the lack of action.
They said that a school parent had reported the broken lights to Laois County Council's traffic department in November 2024, on two occasions.
"It is a scandal because hundreds of children are at risk when crossing main road. Looks like County Council does not care about children's safety.
"What I saw is kids leaving school trying to cross the road are very confused how to do it, because traffic is very heavy around 4pm and not all drivers are willing to stop and let them cross, so kids are sometimes stuck in the middle of the road waiting for cars to stop, one second of distraction, that is all needed for a tragedy.
"Another situation I witnessed was that boys pushed each other for fun and it was so close to passing by cars," the resident said. Read that full story here.