'Unacceptable' - Waterford's one-way road to nowhere
Residents are protesting the trial.
In Waterford City, residents living in the Newtown area are struggling to go about their daily lives amidst the ongoing traffic-management trials. At the September meeting of the Waterford Metropolitan District, councillors criticised the road safety conditions in the Newtown area.
Councillor Davy Daniels (Independent) spoke at the start of the meeting about the current situation, calling Council's conduct "unacceptable".
"Nearly one-hundred formal objections were submitted in regards to the one-way system and the management board did not accept this information," he said.
Cllr Daniels continued: "The trial has raised significant issues for schools in the area as well as for the residents."
He referred to "increased stress" on traffic-flow and how the stress is putting schoolchildren and residents at "greater risk".
He pointed to "near-misses" at Christchurch National School and school buses getting stuck on the Lower Newtown/ Passage Road.
He stated: "I have also received reports from residents about damaged cars on St Alphonsus Road and Lower Newtown."
Cllr Daniels called for an immediate suspension of the trial and a "comprehensive and transparent" engagement process with local residents, students and schools.
Councillor Mary Roche (Social Democrats) spoke about the knock-on effects of the trials: "I know that the assessment that we're doing would take cognisance of the knock-on effects that are happening on the Lower Newtown, Wilkin Street and St Alphonsus Road.
"There is no doubt that people living there[...] it is having a knock-on effect and it needs to be dealt with."
A member of the Waterford Executive management team addressed Metropolitan Mayor Adam Wyse: "I don't agree that the trial [...] is unsuccessful. It has been closely monitored on a number of different parameters. As I said, it's a trial, it's scheduled to run for three months and it will be reexamined after three months and that's where we are now.
"I think it's unfair to say that it's unsuccessful. I think it's unfair to say that there hasn't been consultation on the scheme."
In August, residents protested at City Hall over the proposed trial, expressing concerns that the measures would gravely impact life in the area.
One resident told Waterford News and Star: "The Council have brought these traffic problems onto themselves by granting the extensions to the schools. What is needed and requested previously is a comprehensive plan for the entire area to facilitate the traffic management problem created by the schools."
