Frustrated residents to hold protest over ongoing works at roundabout
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A FRUSTRATED Knocklyon resident will be holding a protest against South Dublin County Council’s ongoing works on the Orlagh roundabout on Saturday, which residents say has led to lengthy traffic tailbacks in the area.
As previously reported in The Echo, construction work began on the installation of a shared cycle and pedestrian way leading to the roundabout in July, where traffic was then reduced to a single lane on approach to the roundabout, which it is believed is now leading to traffic tailbacks.
Independent councillor for Rathfarnham, Deirdre O’Donovan, set up a petition in December that at the time of print had amassed over 4,000 signatures, calling on South Dublin County Council to reinstate the previous iteration of the roundabout.
Knocklyon resident Declan Brady is now calling on residents to join him for a peaceful protest on Saturday, January 26, at 1pm at the roundabout, to highlight the issues the new layout is causing.
Mr Brady told The Echo: “Nothing seems to be being done about the roundabout.
“You see people posting stuff on social media about things like traffic jams and being stuck in traffic at the roundabout. I just feel that enough is enough – let’s actually get people together so they can show their disapproval of the works.
“I’m doing it to generate more awareness [of the issues with the roundabout], social media is great but not everyone uses it.”
When previously contacted by The Echo, a spokesperson for South Dublin County Council stated: “Roads Design and Construction acknowledge that there have been delays at the roundabout, which has caused public disquiet.
“We feel the reason for the delays are that there have been very poor weather conditions recently, which slows traffic considerably, and an additional amount of delay is caused by drivers slowing down to view the roadworks.”
The spokesperson added that the council had carried out a drone survey earlier this year and found that “the two lanes on the Scholarstown Road Eastern Arm were rarely used and when they were, they caused conflicts.”
The construction of the shared cycle and footpath is being designed to “provide an alternative to the private car”, according to the spokesperson, and when the work is completed by the end of this week they will “monitor the works to determine if they are working satisfactorily.”
