Traffic calming wanted in Portlaoise at demolished Centrepoint shopping centre
Laois County Council to review Mountrath road including shortcut path to Harpurs Lane
Speeding traffic into Portlaoise town centre at the site of the demolished Centrepoint shopping centre must be stopped, local councillors say.
The Mountrath Road could be the only approach road into Portlaoise now without flashing speed indicators, believes Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald.
She tabled a motion to the November meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District, asking for Laois County Council to put traffic calming on the wide section of the R445 road into town.
"Once traffic passes the roundabout on the Mountrath road, it takes off at speed towards the railway bridge. I hope eventually we will get a scheme and Centrepoint will be sorted. But we have to do something in the meantime to stop the speed," the Fianna Fáil councillor said.
Cllr Willie Aird seconded the motion.
"We need to put in a ramp. You tell me you won't put ramps in an urban area, but then put in a speed camera," he suggests.
"It's probably the only road into town now that doesn't have a flashing speed indicator," Cllr Fitzgerald agreed.
Centrepoint in 2009. Photo: Google Maps
Owned by the Shaws Department Store group, it was vacated over a decade ago and later demolished in 2021 after dereliction notices were issued. This had followed years of anti-social behaviour and a fire in the derelict building.
The Centrepoint site has been listed on the Portlaoise local development plan as an "opportunity site" since 2016. Portlaoise Panthers basketball club has suggested it be bought by the state to build the town its first modern sports hall.