Fury as Windyhall relief road plans 'pulled'

Plans for the new Windyhall relief road in Letterkenny have been put on hold.

The new road was to run from the Optum roundabout and cater for traffic in a fast-growing area of Letterkenny.

The state of the current Windyhall Road has become the subject of much discussion from Councillors and the issue reared its head again at the April meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.

Councillors are miffed that the plans for a relief road have seemingly been shelved, something they only learned at a recent workshop.

Councillor Gerry McMonagle brought a motion to the meeting that the Council seek a specific road funding grant for upgrade and safety work on the current road.

Traffic gridlock putting new businesses off Letterkenny

Letterkenny is in need of 'three bridges, not one', it has been claimed, as traffic issues continue to cause frustration

“I see this as a matter of urgency,” Councillor McMonagle said. “The traffic and the dangers are increasing all the time and we saw that at first hand ourselves.

“It is becoming more urgent when we read the report from the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) and this was going to be a ring road around the town; but they have now recommended that this be withdrawn.

“A lot of what we were putting in place on traffic and pedestrian safety has been pulled from under us without consultation. A meeting with the OPR is now urgent to see how they dealt with the plan.

“A new road is some way down the road so to speak, so we need to make the existing road safety.”

Councillors and engineers met on the road one morning recently and their experience highlighted the need for urgent work.

Seconding the motion, Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh said the road was 'highly dangerous' and something was needed 'on an emergency basis'.

The narrow road is a busy artery from major housing developments in the Killyclug, Killylastin and Glencar areas of the town, with the volume of users causing great difficulty.

Councillor Ciaran Brogan warned members that the Council's had to get its own 'ducks in a row'.

“It is very important that we have the discussion,” Councillor Brogan said. “Being there that morning to meet with the Minister was a great education, but we haven't got an application ready at the minute. It would be pretty embarrassing to land to the Minister without that.”

The Mayor of the Letterkenny-Milford MD, Councillor Donal 'Mandy' Kelly, said Councillors only heard of the OPR 'pulling' the plans an hour after the early morning meeting at Windyhall.

“The OPR are trying to take this off us so we need to look at an alternative as a matter of urgency,” Councillor Kelly said. “You see traffic reversing all the time and we saw a student walking down with the earphones in the ear, looking at a phone; these kind of things are adding to the road safety issues.

“We need to do what we can to address this, sooner rather than later.”

A special council meeting on April 24 will see members consider submissions from the OPR in relation to the Letterkenny Local Transport Plan.

Donegal County Council has sought a meeting with the OPR.