Garda plan aims to ease traffic jams during pre-Christmas shopping

A TEAM of 20 gardaí backed up by motorcyclists from the Traffic Corps are to start Operation Freeflow in Cork city from Monday next.

The initiative, aimed at easing traffic jams during the pre-Christmas shopping spree, will start each day at 7am.

Sergeant Trevor Laffin, in charge of the initiative, said a number of gardaí will be put on duty at the entrance to city centre car parks to ensure no lengthy queues develop which could create gridlocks.

“When there are no parking spaces left in a particular car park, motorists will be encouraged to go to the next available car park and so on until a space becomes available,” Sgt Laffin said.

“Queuing at car parks is one way to create traffic chaos in the city centre. A small number of cars waiting outside a car park can quickly develop into a lengthy queue and, in a very short space of time, can create traffic difficulties across the city,” he said.

The operation will be co-ordinated from the communications room at Anglesea St, where gardaí have banks of CCTV cameras trained on streets in the city centre.

Sgt Laffin said around five motorcycle gardaí from the local Traffic Corps will also patrol and will be dispatched to ease traffic build up when it occurs.

“We would appeal to people to be patient and to co-operate with the gardaí on duty and we would encourage people to use the park and ride facilities where possible. The object of this exercise is to make it as convenient as possible for people to travel around Cork city,” the sergeant said.

He added that gardaí believed the high visibility associated with Operation Freeflow will further help to prevent crime and create a safer environment for shoppers and the business community.