New traffic lights have been replaced at the junction of Fonthill Road and Boot Road at the entrance to Clondalkin Village
Calls to improve traffic lights to make road safer for pedestrians
“It encourages people actually just to cross in a dangerous manner.”
Calls have been made to improve the traffic lights across South Dublin to make roads safer for pedestrians in the region.
Current wait times at traffic lights in the region can range from 36 seconds to two minutes from the press of a button.
Councillor Madeleine Johansson expressed her disappointment at the fact that some pedestrians will have to wait two minutes to cross a road
The Palmerstown/Fonthill Councillor requested that sequencing of the lights be reviewed and the pedestrian be placed at the forefront of this review.
Cllr Johansson said: “I think they should be reduced, and sequencing should be looked at at junctions to see if it’s possible to change sequencing so that, once a button is pressed, that the first change that happens after is a green light for pedestrians.”
She asked for a traffic system used in other parts of Europe at stand-alone lights separate from junctions to be considered.
This system reacts to volumes of traffic and will turn green for motorists if a car is nearby.
Cllr Johansson noted that the system helps to slow down traffic and discourages: “That’s very useful, particularly in the middle of the night when there may be people driving a bit more irresponsibly and speedily on the roads.”
The traffic calming measures in Bawnogue, some of which are set to be replicated in other areas across South Dublin, were brought into question.
Councillor William Carey discussed three pedestrian crossings in the area where traffic fails to stop.
Cllr Carey noted that the crossing does not have a red light, instead only one colour – amber – and no markings painted on the road.
The Clondalkin councillor said: “You walk up to these amber crossings and traffic just does not stop – this is an issue.
“The fact is we have tightened up the road in order to slow the traffic down but the traffic is just ignoring it…I don’t know whether it’s an education issue or whether it’s an issue around what needs to be highlighted around the rules of the road.”
Another local representative provided an anecdote of encountering a possible fault at a junction that had some cyclists waiting for longer than the120 seconds maximum.
Councillor Jess Spear noted that long waits such as the one she encountered only encourage pedestrians and cyclists waiting for the lights to turn in their favour to move earlier.
South Dublin County Council Director of Planning and Transport Eoin Burke said that the council will look at the behaviour of traffic lights on a case-by-case basis and that they are committed to pedestrian priority.
South Dublin County Council stated that it intends to get a pedestrian priority management at traffic lights policy agreed at the next planning and transport strategicy policy committee meeting and publish the policy on their website as ‘best practice.’
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
