No plans to change frequency of Wexford Bridge lights despite claims ‘traffic flows 100 times better’ without them

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Despite claims that “traffic flows a hundred times better” when the traffic lights on Wexford Bridge are out of use, the local council says it has no immediate plans to change their timing or frequency.

Accepting that there are “congestion issues” on both the Quay and the Bridge at peak times, area engineer Eiliís Furlong said the difficulty is that these issues are not consistent and vary on a daily basis.

She was responding to a query from Councillor Robbie Staples at the July meeting of the Wexford Borough District (WBD).

“The traffic flows a hundred times better there when the lights are off, is there any way the sequence of lights can be changed?” asked Cllr Staples. “Could the sequence be changed in the mornings to allow more traffic into town and in the evenings to allow traffic to get out of the town?”

“We’ve had a number of contacts regarding the lights but each time we’ve inspected them they are working to the times and frequency they are set to,” replied Ms Furlong. “I have gone down to look at them and sometimes the bridge lights are running freely but there’s issues further back, either along the Quay or on the other side of the bridge.

"There is a timing element to them and that can be adjusted or changed but each time I go down and check them there’s a different issue occurring."

According to Ms Furlong, the number of pedestrian crossings on the Quay can occasionally cause backlogs at the lights, however, she said there was no evidence that altering the frequency and timing would improve the situation.

“We could change the timing but what might work one day may not work the next, it’s a different issue every time.”