New Moy bridge in Ballina a priority for north Mayo councillors

A new bridge over the River Moy in Ballina needs to become a priority according to a local councillor to help alleviate traffic congestion through the north Mayo capital.

Councillors in the Ballina Municipal District all supported a call for a new bridge crossing over the Moy in Ballina due to the length of time it takes motorists to get from one side of the town to the other.

Fine Gael councillor John O'Hara brought a motion before the monthly meeting of the Ballina Municipal District where he called for representatives of Transport Infrastructure Ireland along with Minister Dara Calleary and Senator Mark Duffy to attend a special meeting to discuss the back-log of traffic through Ballina.

READ: 300 Mayo homes to be hit by water outage this evening

Cllr O'Hara told the meeting that at certain times of the day it can take over an hour to get from one side of the town to the other with traffic congested on all approach roads to Ballina.

“The only way out of this is a new bridge,” he told the meeting. “It is taking an hour to get from one side of the town to the other. We need another bridge across the Moy. That has to come soon. We are talking about by-passes but that is the by-pass which will count. No matter what you do with the traffic it won't change.”

There are currently no proposals for a bridge over the Moy although there are plans to link the N59 Crossmolina Road to the N26 Foxford Road but this is unlikely to be completed until late in 2029.

Cllr O'Hara said that business people on the Sligo side of the river are feeling the pinch because people in surrounding towns and villages are doing their business elsewhere because they don't want to cross the Moy.

“I have been approached by many business people on the east side of the town and they are saying they are losing business hand over fist to the other towns. All the people in Knockmore and Attymass are going to Tesco in Swinford because it is much easier. People who used to go to Archers and Wests [Timber] are not going to cross the Moy and the business is all gone. Nobody is going to go into a town where they will spend a quarter of the day travelling in and out to get material,” he said.

He received unanimous support from his fellow councillors who said that the TII and the council need to prioritise a new river crossing for traffic.

“It needs to be prioritised because businesses rely on it and people are shopping in other places. People are frustrated at sitting in cars for hours on end and it is only getting worse,” said Cllr Marie Therese Duffy.

Crossmolina-based councillor Michael Loftus recalled that it took him 45 minutes to get from outside Ballina to get into town to attend a funeral and said it needs to be looked at immediately.

Cathaoirleach of Ballina Municipal District, Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said that a new bridge had been proposed by council engineers over 20 years ago and suggested that this work should be revisited to speed up the process.