Numerous near misses at Laois roundabout waiting years to be improved
There have been a number of near misses at a roundabout in Portarlington , despite issues with the road being raised numerous times over the past couple of years.
Laois County Council was requested by local councillor Aidan Mullins to give an update on the proposed improvement works for the roundabout at the junction of Sandy Lane and Ballymorris Road in Portarlington.
This is the third time in 2 years that Cllr Mullins raised issues with this roundabout, the last time being in May 2025. However, no work has been carried out yet on the roundabout.
“Each time I’m given the response that something is going to be done, there’s going to be a survey or a report,” said Cllr Mullins at the recent meeting of the Graiguecullen/Portarlington MD.
In the update from Laois County Council’s Road Design department, it said that the roundabout will be included in the Portarlington Traffic Study and that Road Design is awaiting confirmation of funding from the Department of Transport.
The Senior Executive Engineer for the MD, Tom Drennan, explained that this traffic study is to do with the relief road scheme on that side of the town and the redesign of the roundabout will be included in it.
However, Cllr Mullins argued that the relief road would not impact this roundabout.
“I don’t understand how this particular roundabout has to wait until a traffic study. I’d be looking at this as a standalone issue which has been ongoing for over 2 years,” said the Independent councillor.
“A number of engineers have looked at this and led me to believe that it was going to be addressed.”
Cllr Mullins said that coming in on the Ballymorris Road the roundabout is off centre and traffic don’t have to go around it, leading to “the traffic just shooting through it.”
“There’s been a number of near misses but no serious collisions there yet,” he told the council.
Cllr Aisling Moran supported the motion, saying: “The roundabout would be done with what it’s costing to do the traffic study.
“We’re spending an awful lot of money on feasibility studies and reports and we’re not getting the work done.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme