Councillors warn of gridlock in proposed town

A proposed new town north of Cork City could become gridlocked with traffic if the National Roads Authority maintains its refusal to provide a full junction connection to the planned Northern Ring Road.

County councillors expressed concern yesterday at news that the NRA does not want to provide a direct link to the planned 5,000-house town of Monard, near Blarney.

The NRA said connecting it to the ring road would “create safety and operational problems” and claimed the council hadn’t demonstrated that traffic coming from the town was “strategic”.