Traffic chaos prompts urgent review

ALL local authorities are to be asked to review their procedures for informing motorists about major roadworks in a bid to avoid the traffic gridlock which affected thousands of Dublin and Wicklow commuters earlier this week.

Emergency roadworks on a burst water pipe on Wednesday evening are believed to have caused one of the biggest ever traffic jams in Ireland with some motorists claiming they faced delays of over seven hours.

Over 50,000 vehicles are believed to have been caught in the snarl-up which effected both the N11 main Dublin-Wexford road and the southernmost section of the M50.

Motorists were forced to wait in their vehicles for hours as the roadworks which were carried out near Bray, Co Wicklow resulted in only one lane of the motorway being in operation.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen said yesterday he would ask all local authorities to review how they conveyed information about upcoming roadworks to the public.

However, Mr Cullen stressed that motorists should realise that vital roadworks will always cause some level of inconvenience.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council water services, which carried out the repair work, apologised for the disruption but said it was necessary to conduct such work during the peak traffic period.

Fine Gael transport spokesperson, Olivia Mitchell, said the chaos was an indictment of the first real test of the Garda Traffic Corps.

“It failed monumentally this week and questions must be answered by management about its communication and coordination system and why there is no mechanism in place which would trigger an emergency response,” said Ms Mitchell.

Labour Wicklow TD, Liz McManus called for an independent investigation to explain what was “an unmitigated mess”.

Conor Faughnan of AA Roadwatch, insisted that it had notified all media outlets about the planned roadworks on Tuesday evening and again on Wednesday.

“I don’t’ think there was a failure of communications but it’s fair to say that there are lessons to be learned by all from the experience,” said Mr Faughnan

Several callers to RTÉ’s Liveline yesterday phoned in to complain that an unnamed politician in a ministerial car used the hard shoulder to dodge the traffic.

Others reported being forced to abandon their cars after they ran out of petrol, adding further to the congestion.

Although radio broadcasts in many European countries are regularly interrupted to issue major traffic alerts to motorists, such a system is not used in the Republic, although the technology is available for most FM broadcasts.

A pilot test of issuing such traffic information on 2FM several years ago was not a major success.

Meanwhile, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus have both announced extended night services for the pre-Christmas season.

Bus Éireann will operate a “Night Rider” late night bus service throughout the period serving parts of Leinster within the Dublin commuter belt. Services will operate to Navan, Enfield, Wicklow, Newbridge and Drogheda at weekends at 00.30am and 3.30am leaving from Busaras. The service will run on December 7-23 and again on December 28-29.