A review of the new traffic lights on Letterkenny’s Pearse Road has been welcomed this week.
Serious issues have arisen with the lights at Justice Walsh Road/Pearse Road since they became operational on May 30th.
Over the past two weeks, traffic jams have stretched from the junction back to Oldtown.
Cllr Michael McBride brought motorists’ concerns to the Letterkenny-Milford MD today. He said that taxi drivers and driving instructors are among the worst affected by the delays, with learner drivers struggling to get out onto the Pearse Road.
“Everything has its teething problems at the start,” Cllr McBride told the council. “But this I don’t think is working the way it is. It has been causing a lot of concern among motorists.”
In response, the council said that modifications were made to the lights on Monday. David McIlwaine, Executive Engineer, said the lights seem to be working a lot more efficiently as a result.
Mr McElwaine said there is a validation process for newly installed lights that is now underway. The suppliers have been back in town over the last three days to reevaluate the system to ensure that they are operating as efficiently as possible.
He said: “The introduction of the signals at the junction and the improvement in safe use of the junction for both vehicular and pedestrian users will have an impact on the free flow of traffic on the Pearse Road but the optimisation of the lights will minimise the delay as far as possible.”