A DECISION to remove a roundabout on the Macroom bypass will force motorists to drive through the town and ‘defeats the purpose of the bypass’, it has been claimed.
And councillors have written to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) calling on them to rethink the decision.
Hopes of maintaining access to the bypass via the roundabout at Carraigaphooca area are being dashed with the opening of the next section of the N22 Baile Bhuirne Macroom road scheme which is due to open on August 11th.
Cork County Council confirmed last week the bypass will close temporarily to allow the removal of a temporary roundabout at Carrigaphooca.
Locals say they will now be forced to drive through Macroom town centre resulting in a return to heavy trucks and gridlocked traffic through the town.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan said it gives locals the opportunity to avail of the N22 bypass.
‘If the Carrigaphooca roundabout is removed, thenplaces like Cill na Marta, Réish na nDoirí and Béal Átha nGhaorthaidh will end up driving into Macroom and get no advantage out of the bypass,’ she said. ‘It also defeats the purpose of a bypass as you are literally forcing traffic to drive through the town.’
A recent report revealed air quality in Macroom town had improved significantly since the bypass opened with an overall 53.8% reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
Cork North West Fine Gael TD Michael Creed said that when this road was being planned and designed some 15 years ago there was no provision for local access.
‘It is a significant deficit in design from a local access point of view and the only way to fix it is through a new design or planning.’
Lars Edman, managing director of the Prince Solider Factory in Cill na Marta, is behind a petition calling for an access route to be maintained.
‘The petition is not about keeping the roundabout at Carraigaphooca but to get proper slip road access there. This was always in the plans for the bypass for 36 years but then it disappeared in the last plan due to cost savings.’ He said the original plans included slip road access and land has already been acquired.
The next section of the road scheme to open is an 8km section of the dual carriageway between Carrigaphooca to the west of Macroom and Tonn Láin to the east of Baile Mhic Íre. A Council spokesperson said the remaining 6km of the new 22km dual carriageway between Tonn Láin and Baile Bhuirne is scheduled for completion later this year.
