Urgent Christmas traffic summit sought for Letterkenny
An urgent meeting with Gardaí and council officials is being sought to plan for traffic relief during the Christmas period in Letterkenny.
100% Redress Party Councillor Tómas Seán Devine has warned that the town is heading into another festive shopping season facing many of the same problems that caused lengthy tailbacks last year.
At Tuesday's Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District meeting, Cllr Devine called for Gardaí, the Roads Section and other relevant stakeholders to sit down now and agree a plan for the Christmas rush.
With 14 weekends left until Christmas 2026, the 100% Redress councillor wants action well before festive shopping season begins.
"We can’t be sitting this time next year talking about these roads that we can open, or these things we can do, and they need to do it now."
"I think there are traffic lights that are seriously causing unnecessary delays," Cllr Devine's motion said.
One of the biggest issues raised by Cllr Devine is the pedestrian lights outside Grafters Gym, opposite Marks and Spencer, near the new Dunnes Stores roundabout.
He said retail park management's surveys found that the lights can change every 40 seconds.
"Most of the time, somebody presses the button at the traffic lights , and if there is nothing coming they usually cross the road, and the lights turn red, and there's nobody standing there," he said.
"That's the biggest problem at that roundabout."
He wants the council to consider removing them , replacing the 'New Dunnes' roundabout with a crossroads and introducing raised pedestrian crossings.
In the immediate term, he wants tougher enforcement of yellow boxes at busy roundabouts, including New Dunnes and the Hospital roundabout, suggesting Gardaí and traffic wardens could be deployed to keep vehicles moving during peak periods.
"Whatever law is on the yellow boxes, we need to enforce them," he said.
He also wants yellow boxes at the Dry Arch and Kiltoy roundabouts, where he said queues are preventing other vehicles from getting through.
He suggested a review of traffic wardens' roles so that they could be deployed during peak morning and evening periods to enforce the rules alongside gardaí.
The presence of gardaí discourages motorists from blocking yellow boxes in the first instance, he said.
"I think if they were standing at the hospital roundabout, at the yellow boxes, with their cameras and their notepad, and if the drivers of cars in the yellow box started to get fines, I think it would come to a stop," he said.
The councillor also renewed his calls for more ways out of Letterkenny's busy retail car parks.
More than 3.6 million vehicle entries were recorded across the three main car parks of the Letterkenny Retail Park in 2025, while Devine said 144,000 vehicles entered the new Dunnes car park in the first three weeks of December alone.
With two lanes bringing traffic into the new Dunnes car park and only one leading out, he questioned how the existing layout can be expected to cope with the Christmas rush.
He also raised concerns about motorists using the entrance near McDonald's as an unauthorised exit to escape lengthy queues.
"The amount of near crashes they have on cameras, it’s shocking," he said.
Retail park management wants to explore additional exits from both the McDonald's and new Dunnes phases, he said.
In its written response, Donegal County Council confirmed that it would engage with An Garda Síochána and invite officers to a meeting with relevant stakeholders to discuss traffic arrangements for the Christmas trading period.
The Roads Section also committed to making "every effort" to minimise disruption by restricting roadworks on the town's main road network during December to essential and emergency works only, where practicable.
It is recognised, however, that unforeseen circumstances may arise which necessitate urgent works in the interests of road safety, public safety, or the continued operation of the road network.
Despite his concerns, Cllr Devine stressed that Letterkenny remains open for business and encouraged shoppers to visit outside the busiest school traffic periods.
He believes this message should be promoted in the town, rather than allowing negative publicity about traffic to discourage shoppers.
See more: Councillors unite behind bid to rethink Letterkenny road works
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