Wexford to have first traffic lights soon

October 1979

At last, Wexford’s first set of traffic lights have arrived, and it is hoped they will be in operation by Christmas. The good news was given to the members of Wexford Corporation by the Town Clerk at last Monday night’s meeting.

The matter arose from a motion put forward by Ald. Peter Roche which stated: ‘That this Council deplores the fact that traffic lights are not yet erected anywhere in Wexford town’.

Ald. Roche said the town’s traffic problems were so bad, it was becoming the laughing stock of the country. ‘Towns not half the size of Wexford have traffic lights,’ he said, before adding that traffic lights ‘are not only needed at the bridge, but at three or four other locations too.’

Cllr. John O’Flaherty said ‘we have been dragging our heels too long on this matter’.

He said the traffic system in Wexford is terrible, and one of the biggest problems is speed, especially the juggernauts, on the outskirts of town.

Ald. Gus Byrne said some traffic problems could be avoided if people simply obeyed the parking laws. He said yellow lines on Wexford streets are ‘just being completely ignored’, and along the quays, where some of the worst congestion takes place, you can often see cars double parked or even triple parked.

Cllr. Avril Doyle warned however that just putting up traffic lights would not solve the problem by themselves. She said lights could in fact even make things worse in some places, by preventing a freeflow of traffic. She said the opinion of the Gardaí should be sbought.

After a vote was taken and the motion was supported, the Town Clerk, Mr. Eddie Breen, announced that the lights that had been ordered some time ago have now actually arrived. He said he hoped to have the lights installed and operational before Christmas.