Third river crossing to be explored amid ‘huge increase’ in traffic in Waterford city

Waterford City and County Council is set to explore the possibility of a third river crossing in the city amid a “huge increase” in traffic.

Several councillors raised traffic problems in the city at the November Metropolitan District meeting.

Fine Gael councillor Jim D’Arcy spoke about congestion at the Butlerstown Roundabout in particular.

Cllr D’Arcy said: “On the Butlerstown Roundabout, people are paying the toll to get into the city in the mornings.

“The backup there is huge because at the Butlerstown Roundabout, the priority is people coming from Butlerstown. I think we need to take a look at it.

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“Like the Farronshoneen Roundabout, it’s not functioning as a roundabout and I think we should look at the option of lights in the meantime just to let people into the city. People are paying the toll and can’t get into the city.”

In response to Cllr Darcy, Senior Engineer Paul Johnston said that there is only so much the council can do when it comes to certain junctions. 

Mr Johnston said: “Physically you can’t get any more traffic through the junctions given the amount of traffic that’s there.

“So there’s not much we can do, it’s simply the volume of traffic.”

Mr Johnston added that it is “becoming increasingly clear” that Waterford will need to invest in a third river crossing.

“We need to start looking at options with regards to that so we’ll need to discuss it. We may bring it to the council separately but we do need to accelerate that if our city is to continue to thrive,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil councillor Jason Murphy asked whether an analysis of traffic coming into the city could be undertaken.

Cllr Murphy said: “Throughout the local media this week, traffic in our city centre is becoming a huge concern. It’s got an awful lot of exposure over the last week.

“Could the council carry out an analysis of traffic coming into the city, particularly from the Cork direction, to try and ascertain how much of that traffic actually stops in the city and how much of it carries on over Rice Bridge and onto the N25 and the M9, effectively using the city as a bypass?

“Can we just get an analysis of that from the roads department to see what we’re up against and that would define our traffic strategy going forward.”

In response to Cllr Murphy, Mr Johnston said that such an analysis is something the council is working on.

Mr Johnston stated: “We have taken steps to undertake traffic count details throughout the city so we’re working on that and hopefully we’ll have something in early 2026.

“There has been a substantial increase in traffic, not only in Waterford - I think we can all see it in some respects.

“We’re a victim of our own success in the amount of people that are coming to the city.”

Social Democrats councillor Mary Roche said that traffic problems were going to become “really obvious” during Winterval, given the “huge increase” in traffic the festival brings.

She asked whether the council could review the sequencing of traffic lights throughout the city.

Cllr Roche said: “Is there any way we can review the sequencing of traffic lights in that area on those access points?

“Particularly on the quays in and out, there are huge tailbacks and huge blockages. I know it’s been in the media but this is something we’ve been raising in this council chamber for a long time.

“Is there anything that can be done to pull the traffic through much faster and let it clear? There must be some way we can do it.”

In response to Cllr Roche, Executive Engineer Alan O’Shea explained why the council don’t interfere with the sequencing of traffic lights.

Mr O’Shea said: “All the traffic lights in the city are on SCATS (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System), which is an adaptive system.

“So it learns itself how much traffic is coming through the junction and in which direction. In any case, that takes [in] the volume of traffic so thankfully we don’t have to interfere too much with the lights; it will learn itself as it goes.”

However, Mr O’Shea added that there has been an issue with the lights where they don’t register traffic if it doesn’t pass through the junction quickly enough.

He concluded by saying that an assessment is being carried out on traffic coming from Lombard Street onto the Quay and out to the Cork Road.

Councillors will be notified once this assessment is completed.