Waterford priest puts forward plan to solve traffic ‘chaos’ at school times

A Waterford priest has put forward a plan to solve the city’s traffic problems at school times.

Fr Liam Power, who is the parish priest of St. Joseph, St. Benildus and St. Mary’s, is on the board of management of a number of schools in the Newtown area.

His plan was mentioned during a discussion on the St John of God’s Safe Routes to School Scheme at the November Metropolitan District meeting of Waterford City and County Council.

In April, the council revealed plans to introduce a number of traffic calming measures in the vicinity of St. John of God’s National School.

These measures were set to include the widening of footpaths and parking realignment. However, the scheme drew widespread criticism from school staff, parents and local residents.

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In total, Waterford Council received 113 submissions in relation to the project during the public consultation period.

Following receipt of the public submissions and further discussions between stakeholders, revised plans were developed.

A trial one-way system was then implemented on Passage Road and Wilkin Street.

Director of Services Gabriel Hynes outlined the results of that trial at the November Metropolitan District meeting.

Mr Hynes said: “The reason for the scheme was to look at improving road safety in the vicinity of the school and also traffic flow at the school itself.

“So we introduced a trial and the trial ended on the 8th of November. We had a very constructive workshop here last week.

“We’ve had considerable consultation with residents, the school, the Gardaí - some positive, some negative and some positive with amendments recommended.

“I think the general view of the one-way system is that it has had a positive impact around the school. It yields better traffic flow.”

However, Mr Hynes said that the overall conclusion from the trial was that the wider area needed to be looked at.

He recommended that councillors vote to continue with the one-way system currently in place whilst the council draws up plans to expand it to other schools in the area.

The existing one-way system will form part of future traffic calming measures, which will include a raised table, widened footpaths and a pedestrian crossing at St John of God’s school.

Mr Hynes said that the council will look at expanding the one-way system to the wider area as part of a new consultation early next year.

He continued: “There isn’t an easy solution to this as outlined previously. If there was a simple solution it would’ve been done years ago.

“I know there’s risks but we need to take some of those risks because we can’t just leave things as they were because what was there wasn’t working.”

Independent councillor Joe Kelly said that he drove through the one-way system a number of times to see if it worked.

He said that although the system was “not perfect”, he “got through relatively easily” and on that basis, he was prepared to agree to the system’s continuation.

Cllr Kelly went on to outline the plan put forward by Fr Liam Power and proposed that the council take it on board.

He stated: “But the starting point of the further expansion, Fr Liam Power sent out a map and a proposal, according to you anyway, on behalf of all the principles of the six or seven schools in the area.

“That showed the broader or more extensive scheme that I think would actually be a big step forward on even the current one and I would suggest that that’s even the starting point of the next phase of the consultation going forward.

“But I agree with Gabriel [Hynes], going back to what we had is not an option. It wasn’t working and this has a reasonable chance of success.”

Meanwhile, independent councillor David Daniels expressed doubts as to why the scheme was allowed to proceed with only one school involved in the first place.

Cllr Daniels said: “The whole area needs to be looked at. You can’t look at one school in isolation.

“I would actually question the actual Safe Routes to School scheme. How one school in an area with so many schools around it is allowed to go into a scheme.

“Either all of the schools go into the scheme or none of them. It doesn’t make sense to just have one school go into this scheme because it has created a lot of stress around the area.

“The way this is going it’s still concentrated on one area and the problem is going to shift to another area.”

Cllr Daniels added that all of the schools in the area and local residents would be in favour of an overall plan for the area.

Sinn Féin councillor Pat Fitzgerald said that the traffic was a “very difficult thing to try and solve” and that problem probably hasn’t been solved but it is “a big improvement”.

He suggested that Waterford needs a “proper school transport system”, with buses picking schoolchildren up from outside the city.

In response, Mr Hynes said that Cllr Fitzgerald was “absolutely correct” in his assessment. He said that once the Bus Connects programme is up and running, school children should have access to buses every 15 minutes.

The Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr Seamus Ryan, commented that the scheme is improving safety in the area.

He added that “there’s not a school in the city and county that doesn’t have delays and traffic chaos”.

Fine Gael councillor Jim Darcy said that the trial has generally worked but warned of knock-on effects in Lower Newtown and on Alphonsus Road.

Meanwhile, Social Democrats councillor Mary Roche emphasised the responsibility that schools must take for traffic in the area.

Cllr Roche said: “The surprise is when a system like the Safe Routes to School came in offering to provide pedestrian [safety] that only one school opted for it. I mean that is a surprise.

“There are things the schools can do, there are things patronage bodies can do in terms of providing parking, in terms of staggered openings.

“The schools have responsibilities here and some schools have accepted that and taken active steps and I would like to ask the schools in the area to consider their own responsibilities.”

Cllr Roche added that she had a look at Fr Power’s proposal and she “would have some concerns” over the direction traffic would take under the plan.

Sinn Féin councillor John Hearne suggested that schools open an hour earlier, saying “it would solve half the traffic problems across the whole country”.

The Metropolitan Mayor, Cllr Adam Wyse, concluded the discussion by joking that “someone should write to the schools informing students to go on the duck”.