Waterford City & County Council is currently investigating the feasibility of constructing a second bridge is in the vicinity of Maypark Lane, to alleviate traffic pressure on the Dunmore Road and Quay.
At the January meeting of the Metropolitan District, Planning Unit Director Lar Power confirmed that the Council was in the early stages of examining whether the second river crossing would be viable.
Responding to queries from Councillors Mary Roche and Eddie Mulligan, Senior Roads Engineer Ray Mannix said there was ‘no simple solution’ to traffic delays on the Quay and the Dunmore Road. Mr Mannix said the Council was monitoring the situation and sometimes tweaking the sequencing of lights on an experimental basis.
“But there is limited scope for improvement, it’s down to the volume of traffic coming through the junctions. There is no simple solution and whatever changes we make there will be no major improvement.”
Cllr Mary Roche (Ind) said the Council had several years ago spoken about the possibility of a second bridge for the city.
“It seems to me that’s the only thing that will pull some of the traffic from the Lombard Street and Quay area. There are 20,000 cars a day using the Dunmore Road and pulling them all through Lombard Street is ridiculous.
“We need to be looking at how to solve this problem, we need a bridge at the Passage Cross and another around Island Lane and another one or two in the city. The Forward Planning Unit should be looking at this in a strategic manner.”
