‘Thumbs down’ for the new roundabout
February 1992
Wexford’s new roundabout at Redmond Square got the ‘thumbs down’ this week from town councillors who are listening to daily complaints from pedestrians and motorists about traffic in the area.
Far from regulating the flow of traffic, which it was designed to do, the roundabout is actually causing congestion, according to members of Wexford Corporation.
The blame does not rest solely with the new design of Redmond Square, however. A recently-compiled garda report indicates that illegal parking is a big problem.
Not only are people parking on double yellow lines around the area, but others are leaving their cars in front of the railway station, forcing buses to park on the roundabout.
And the end result is confusion and inconvenience for everyone driving through the area.
Cllr. John O’Flaherty is concerned that the whole layout of Redmond Square is ‘faulty’. An enormous amount of space was wasted which could have been used for parking, he feels.
‘A fortnight ago, the whole area was blocked up with people parking on double yellows. I shudder to think what would happen if the emergency services had to get through.’
He suggested that the island park in the centre should have been designed on a smaller scale.
Cllr. Peter Roche was inclined to agree. ‘I see very few people using that green area. It’s a waste of space,’ he said.
He joined other councillors in calling for a complete review of the Redmond Square design.
One of the solutions which Wexford gardaí have come up with is a prohibition on the parking of cars in front of the railway station, inside the island. A pick-up and drop-off point, incorporating fourteen parking spaces, would be provided for station visitors.
But members of the Corporation’s traffic management committee were largely against the idea on Monday night.
Said Ald. Gus Byrne: ‘An awful lot of motorists arrive at the station to pick up or drop off people, and more than fourteen spaces would be required. It would cause more problems than it would solve.’
Town Clerk Don Curtin explained that Redmond Square was not designed as a roundabout, but as a civic space with a one-way system around it. The aim was to bring life back into the north end of town and create a situation whereby pedestrians would have greater priority than vehicles.
He reminded traffic committee members that that area is still not complete and the Donnelly development has yet to be built. It was agreed that the committee would carry out a review of the area, in the context of the Donnelly development and in consultation with Iarnród Eireann.