Sinnotstown Lane is becoming ‘no go’ zone
WEXFORD Council Council is to be asked to address the increasingly chaotic problem of traffic congestion at Sinnottstown Lane where it meets with the Rosslare Road.
One local businessman described it as a ‘no go’ zone every afternoon.
Former Mayor Cllr Frank Staples said the junction was becoming increasingly congested and increasingly dangerous, with long tailbacks and frustrated motorists trying to get out on to the main road.
‘If the county council keeps on giving planning permission, they’re going to have to sort this out,’ Cllr Staples told this newspaper.
He said there were a growing number of businesses accessed from Sinnottstown Lane including McDonald’s, one of the busiest in the country.
Brendan McCleane, from the Tool Depot, said Sinnottstown Lane was a ‘no go’ zone from 4.20 p.m. every evening.
‘It’s affecting our customers and some are asking me to meet them on my way home to avoid the congestion,’ he said.
Mr McCleane said with more and more developments in the area - the latest the kidney dialysis unit and Ferns Engineering - the problems were only going to get worse.
‘There doesn’t seem to be any forward thinking by the council,’ he said, suggesting the end of the lane should be made left turn only with a roundabout further down the road opposite the IDA entrance to enable traffic to get back to the N25.
He said that because of congestion in the town and the oneway system in the area of the Faythe, even people heading for Tesco were using the lane to get in to shop, which exacerbated the difficulties faced by people trying to get to businesses on the lane. ‘The queues can be brutal,’ said Padraig O’Brien, from the Cooney Furlong Grain Company.
‘Getting out in the evening is bad enough, but its very bad when there’s harvest traffic. It’s difficult enough with a car, but for farmers with tractors and trailers, it’s a lot worse,’ he said. Mr O’Brien said some of the lorry drivers serving the business were turning right and heading for Whiterock because it was so difficult to get to the Rosslare Road and then to turn right, which at times could lead to long delays. He said he believed the council had under-estimated how successful the area would become at that was at the heart of the issue. Rita Kinsella, the assistant manager from Meadows and Byrne, said in the evening commute was the worst and it could take anything from 10 to 15 minutes to get out. ‘In the morning it’s grand coming in, but if you need to get out for anything it could take 20 minutes to get off the road,’ she said. Ms Kinsella said that because of the problems getting on the Rosslare Road, with right turns particularly difficult because of restricted vision caused by cars driving in parallel in a single lane, many more people were heading for Whiterock which was causing congestion at the other end of the road.
“If you need to get out for anything it could take 20 minutes to get off the road”