Proposed one-way system in Wexford is described as ‘bonkers’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Plans to convert Ballinatray Bridge into a one-way system have been described as “bonkers” by Fine Gael councillor Anthony Donohue. The bridge, which is the “main artery” into Courtown, currently has two lanes but Wexford County Council’s (WCC) active travel team is exploring the possibility of reducing it to one lane to allow cyclists and pedestrians to cross safely.

Reacting to the news at the monthly meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) Councillor Donohue said an alternative needed to be found and suggested a footpath could be built on the outside of the bridge similar to a project carried out in Tullow, Co Carlow.

He received support from Cllr Joe Sullivan who said the people behind this proposal “don’t know what they’re doing”.

However, Alan O’Shea from the council’s active travel team said the designers had assessed the amount of traffic in the area before putting this plan forward. He also rejected any suggestion that a new footpath could be built onto the existing bridge.

“Because it’s a listed structure we are limited in what we can do,” he said. “We have done a modelling assessment on narrowing the road over the bridge. We did that during the busiest day of the year when the schools were still open and there was tourist traffic as well, and none of the junctions were over-saturated.

“It might sound like a daft idea but it can be very easily constructed with barriers and traffic lights, we could model it on an interim basis and see what happens. At the moment there’s people using the footpath, they’re getting to the bridge and deciding to walk across it, so it’s quite dangerous for pedestrians at the moment.”

Sensing they were fighting a losing battle, Cllr Pip Breen came up with a compromise which could, in time, become a valuable tourist attraction for the area.

“We could put a footbridge across the river and through the forest there for people to cross,“ he suggested.

“It could be to similar to Wicklow and the forest walk they have created, it would tick all the boxes,” agreed Cllr Donohue.

While open to the idea in principle, Mr O’Shea advised the councillors that any such structure would require an environmental impact assessment (EIA) if it was to go through the forest.