Cllr Cruise labels proposed Foxford traffic diversion 'senseless'
“The biggest reservation was in relation to the concept of no right turn from Main Street onto the Swinford Road.” - Fine Gael Cllr Neil Cruise
Over one hundred residents and business representatives attended a public meeting held in The Moy Hotel to discuss the proposed safety upgrade plans in Foxford.
One of a number of proposals, developed by the Mayo Roads Design Team and approved by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, sets out to redirect traffic travelling on the N58 and intending to continue onto the N26 onto two local roads - Lower Main Street and Providence Road.
Speaking at the recent public meeting, Cllr Neil Cruise stated that this element of the proposed plans went down ‘very, very poorly.’
“The biggest reservation was in relation to the concept of no right turn from Main Street onto the Swinford Road.”
He further stated that the volume of traffic this proposed solution would add is ‘senseless’.
“It’s senseless sending traffic down into an area [Providence Road] that isn’t fit to take care of the traffic that goes there already.
“It would be hugely negative on the school community and everybody living on Providence Road and the businesses in that area,” he added.
Additionally, he stated that a key issue surrounding this is the pedestrian crossing.
“Plus, a key issue of all this is that there’s no pedestrian crossing on Lower Main Street or Providence Road to accommodate students,” he added.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, several objections were made to an online portal facilitated by Mayo County Council.
Among those to object were St Joseph’s Secondary School, stating that the proposed changes would place its 500 students and 50 staff in ‘consistent and increased danger’.
Raising the issue at the recent district meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Cruise stated the response he received was ‘quite flippant’.
“ I asked at the district meeting on Wednesday if the engineering section and the management of the municipal district would make a submission on this. The response I got was quite flippant, that we'd only be submitting ourselves.
“Now, I don't agree with that for the simple reason that Mayo Design Office have made this design in consultation with TII.” He added.
The Fine Gael Cllr today publicly shared his submission to the Section 38 submission, stating that the current proposal creates significant new traffic problems and falls short of delivering the best solution.
Cllr Cruise's alternate proposal includes the retention of the right turn onto Chapel Road, the relocation of bicycle racks in the town centre, as well as the construction of the construction a triangular build-out at O'Hara's corner to better channel traffic.
Furthermore, he has submitted a proposal to move the current pedestrian crossing 10–15 metres closer to the church, as well as raising it and adding enhanced beacons.
The N58 Foxford Transport Project will now be reviewed to determine which options will progress to phase two.