GOING NOWHERE: No solution to Slea Head traffic chaos

IT took just one tourist driver to cause “pandemonium” at Slea Head on Monday and locals are wondering how long it will take before anything effective is done to sort out the ongoing traffic problem that is a plague on the area.

For years locals, spearheaded by Comharchumann Dhún Chaoin, have been appealing for traffic control measures on the scenic route which is attracting more and more summertime tourists, especially since the launch of the Wild Atlantic Way and the massive publicity that followed from Top Gear TV series presenter Chris Evans describing Slea Head as “the best road I’ve ever driven on”.

The Comharchumann has outlined several potential solutions to the Slea Head traffic problem, including a summertime one-way system and signposts directing tourists to avoid the narrow Clasach road and to drive clockwise around Slea Head and Dún Chaoin. But the response has been disappointing.

Earlier this year the Comharchumann again outlined local concerns at meetings with Kerry County Council. Six weeks ago the Council wrote to the Comharchumann saying they were assessing the situation. The local campaigners understood that action would follow, but the only evidence of this is a signpost on the Clasach road at Árd a’ Bhothar and another at the turn for Coumeenole Strand. Meanwhile, the traffic problems are as bad as ever, causing huge frustration to both locals and tourists.

“The council put up a sign at Coumeenole indicating that camper vans and buses shouldn’t turn right towards Slea Head. But the sign is almost invisible to passing traffic, and it doesn’t include cars, which are the main cause of the traffic problems,” said Comharchumann Dhún Chaoin member Fergal Mac Amhlaoibh. “Rental car drivers going the wrong way around Slea Head meet a bus, they panic, they can’t reverse and traffic is held up until the bus driver reverses the car for them.”

Tour bus operator Mossie Scanlon has experienced this many times. He said that, in just one incident on Monday, traffic was halted for 15 minutes when a car driving east met a camper van heading west, and a ‘stand-off’ ensued between the drivers, neither of whom was able to reverse.

“There was pandemonium today with as much traffic going the ‘wrong’ way as the right way around Slea Head,” said Mossie on Monday, adding: “You can’t blame people for driving in the wrong direction if they don’t know any better. They put a stupid sign at Coumeenole and people can’t even see it. It’s pathetic!”

He said he has encountered many situations where tourists taking a half-day trip drive around Slea Head have missed dinner bookings and even flights after being held up in traffic jams. “The only chance people have is to abandon their cars and climb the mountain if they have to get to the airport,” he added.

“All the council needs to do is put a sign west of Dingle saying ‘Slea Head Drive – clockwise please’… How many years do they know about it now? They seem to be sitting on their hands,” he said.

Meanwhile Fergal expressed concern that Fáilte Ireland is seeking to attract even more tourists to an area that doesn’t have the infrastructure to accommodate them. “They don’t seem to appreciate that tourists are furious at being stuck in traffic… the place is going to get a bad reputation.”