Macroom campaigned for decades for a bypass. Was it worth the wait? 

Neil Michael finds a town that has been transformed. With 700 trucks a day gone, the air is clearer, the mood has lifted, noise levels have fallen. and it even smells better.

Quiet streets of Macroom. There are now periods during the day when there isn't even a car to disturb the Co Cork town's main street. Picture: Neil Michael

Once one of the country's most notorious bottlenecks, Macroom today is a very different town indeed.

Not only has the heavy traffic that once choked the town disappeared, but there are also now periods during the day when there isn't even a car to disturb the quiet of the Co Cork town's main street.