Bus stops opposite each other blamed for traffic jams in West Cork villages

Council officials said attempts to relocate stops frequently met opposition, leaving existing locations in Innishannon and Glengarriff as the most practical option

Members of Cork County Council’s Western Division committee heard that 'every time we’ve tried to move bus stops, the campaign starts, and nobody wants it outside their door'.

Bus stops directly opposite each other are causing traffic bottlenecks in the Cork villages of Innishannon and Glengarriff. 

That is according to members of Cork County Council’s Western Division committee, who have called for stops to be staggered where possible, saying villages could become blocked when buses arrived together. 

Council officials said attempts to relocate stops frequently met opposition, leaving existing locations as the most practical option.

Fine Gael councillor John Michael Foley questioned the layout in Innishannon, where opposing stops are close to traffic lights. He said a bus stopping immediately after passing through the lights could bring traffic behind it to a halt. 

Mr Foley asked whether the layout could be reconsidered and whether future schemes could avoid placing stops so close to signals. 

Party colleague Marie O’Sullivan said the arrangement was contributing to significant queues through the village.

Independent councillor Finbarr Harrington described a similar problem in Glengarriff.

He said the two buses did not always arrive together, but when they did, they could block the village. 

Mr Harrington suggested that staggering the stops would allow traffic to continue moving rather than leaving vehicles facing an obstruction on both sides.

The council’s director of services for roads and transport, Pádraig Barrett, acknowledged the concerns. 

However, he said the Innishannon stops had been upgraded at their existing locations and that moving stops elsewhere was often difficult.

Mr Barrett said: “Every time we’ve tried to move bus stops, the campaign starts, and nobody wants it outside their door.” 

He said bus stops needed to remain accessible in town and village centres, rather than being moved to outskirts lacking pedestrian connections.

“The bus should stop in the town centre,” he said, adding that Innishannon needed an upgrade of its wider pedestrian environment.

Mr Barrett acknowledged that buses stopping opposite each other could cause considerable frustration, even if simultaneous arrivals were relatively infrequent. 

Mr Barrett said the same point applied to Glengarriff and that opposing stops were something the council would try to avoid where possible.

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