Praise for Kerry County Council’s traffic scheme on scenic driving route with narrow chokepoints
The KerrymanA Kerry councillor has praised the results of a new traffic system that has been rolled out along one of the county’s most scenic routes.
Councillor Breandán Fitzgerald said the introduction of a clockwise traffic management around the Slea Head drive has been “working well”.
The breathtaking 38km route has some tricky one-way sections along the cliffside which can cause traffic congestion and driving difficulties.
Fáilte Ireland supported the development of an advisory clockwise traffic management system which included an awareness campaign prior to peak tourist season.
“In fairness, it's working well, and people are basically kind of adhering to it, and it makes things an awful lot easier,” said Cllr Fitzgerald.
“I think we all always have to be looking for other areas where we can make some minor changes that would make it a lot better for people and working with local landowners and the local committees as well, to find out what they want.
“I'm asking for the council to definitely be working with the local Comharchumann committees that are in place in the Ventry and the Dunquin areas.
“They're the ones who are living there full-time, and they see all the difficulties, so whatever we are going to be doing has to be done along with them… unfortunately sometimes that's not being done.”
As part of the project, additional directional information signs were erected at strategic junctions along the route.
The council said the system was considered a success and has prevented congestion at the narrowest point at Ceann Sléibhe during the peak tourist season.