Commuters 'leaving up to an hour earlier for work' to avoid traffic congestion in West Cork town

Social Democrats councillor Ann Bambury said proposed road improvements taking 'years and years and years' to come to fruition, and 'people are sick of it'

Ann Bambury said although she welcomed funding of €100,000 for bypasses in Bandon and Innishannon, the needs for these roads had been 'evident for years' but had not been progressed.

The rate of progress on developing essential bypasses and road improvements in West Cork is “abysmal”.

That is according to Social Democrats councillor Ann Bambury, who raised the issue at a recent meeting of Cork County Council’s western committee.

Ms Bambury said proposed road improvements were taking “years and years and years” to come to fruition, and “people are sick of it”. 

She said many people in West Cork are forced to drive to work because of a lack of viable public transport, made worse by a lack of adequate road infrastructure.

Ms Bambury said although she welcomed funding of €100,000 for bypasses in Bandon and Innishannon, the need for these roads had been “evident for years” but not been progressed.

She said roads around Bandon and Innishannon were in “traffic chaos” as commuters attempt to avoid bottlenecks and jams, leading to dangerous conditions on backroads not designed to handle such high traffic volumes. 

Ms Bambury said granting planning for more housing was “a cart and horse situation” as the road infrastructure was not in place to cope with the increased traffic.

Party colleague Isobel Towse said a bypass is also urgently needed for Clonakilty. “Congestion on the N71 Clonakilty bypass is the roads issue I hear about most frequently from constituents," she said. 

"It's unacceptable that a new bypass for Clon is still not featuring on any roads allocations or submissions. We always hear that it's 'decades away'. What can we do to progress a new bypass?

“With very welcome additional housing popping up, and an overall increase in population in Clonakilty and in the towns to the west of Clon that travel on this road, a new bypass is critical.

“People are leaving up to an hour earlier for work just to avoid Clon's traffic congestion. Parents who need to drop their children to school in Clonakilty before work are in a massive predicament as schools obviously aren't open at that hour of the morning.” 

They were speaking following a presentation to councillors of the latest roads and transportation update for the Western Division.

This article is funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme