Paperwork stalls upgrade of 'extremely dangerous' Portlaoise road

One of the busiest and most dangerous roads in Portlaoise will not get a safety upgrade, until yet another study is done.

The N80 Mountmellick road is the most residentially built up road in Portlaoise with thousands of homes, a soccer club, petrol stations and shops built along the occasionally narrow 2.5km route into town. It suffers heavy passing traffic and has very little cycle lanes and crossings.

An expert study of the road, commissioned by Laois County Council and paid by taxpayers in 2021, recommended three new roundabouts at busy junctions for safety of pedestrians and cyclists and the use of local drivers.

It was not taken up by the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) who are in sole charge of national roads. Instead in 2023 they asked Laois County Council to do a new study that includes James Fintan Lalor Avenue.

Getting another study done is like "doing a feasibility study on whether a cow needs to be milked," Cllr Willie Aird, a Portlaoise dairy farmer, railed this week.

"It's needed, it's plain as the nose on your face. It's mind boggling. Hundreds of kids go into the soccer club. A lorry on that narrow urban road hasn't a hope of stopping if there is a child there. I don't see a roundabout in the next two years," he said.

He complained that Dunnes Stores was allowed to expand without being asked by planners to install a roundabout at Green Mill Lane junction.

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald calls that junction "an accident blackspot for as long as I can remember".

"Lord, how are we going to tell people on the Mountmellick Road that we need another study? A five year old could tell you want needs to be done. People are very angry and frustrated. We have tried, but the TII has the full say," she said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley had sought an update on the upgrade and the three roundabouts for the Ballyfin Road, Dunnes Stores and Harpurs Lane, in a motion tabled to the May meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District.

"This is the one road in town that has had no investment or very little. Traffic is sitting in a queue for nearly half an hour to get from the Ballyfin Road to Top Square, it's really left behind. I ask that we look for a meeting with the TII. I'd safely say we're talking about this for 20 years," she said.

Cllr Thomasina Connell seconded the motion.

"This road has become extremely dangerous. The volume of traffic is just insane. How can we get through traffic off the Mountmellick road, to make them turn right coming from Tullamore?" she asked.

Director of Services is Simon Walton.

"Vehicles of height are diverted. Maybe we can add another sign, but there is no obligation on cars to use the ring road when the N80 is available. We could place a weight restriction on heavy commercial vehicles that are passing through," he said.

Mr Walton said that the council needs the permission of the TII to change any infrastructure on the road. He admits there is "a gap" of cycle lanes all along the road, from Fairgreen to Green Mill Lane. 

He said the council is "devoting a lot of resources" to doing the new plan and hopes it will be ready by Autumn to show the TII.