Kavanagh seeks early progress on LK traffic light plan

Donegal County Council has confirmed it plans to install traffic lights on four junctions within the 50km limit in Letterkenny.
They include the soon to open junction of Joe Bonner Road and Neil T Blaney Road, and the Polestar Roundabout.
Responding to questions from Cllr Jimmy Kavanagh this week, officials confirmed that the plan to install the lights is in place, but the rollout will not happen until at least next year on most of the junctions.
The Joe Bonner Road junction is due to open shortly, but Cllr Kavanagh is anxious that work proceed on the other junctions as quickly as possible.
He says one issue is work on the Polestar Roundabout may be linked with the plan to do the four lane road project next year…………..

 
Council reply in full –
During 2019, the Council developed a solution to manage
traffic though the section of the network from the Joe Boner/Neil T
Blaney junction through the Polestar Roundabout to the Creamery mini
roundabout at the N56/R245 junction. The Part 8 Planning for the
Letterkenny Traffic Management project was approved at the Plenary
Meeting of the Council on the 20th July 2020.
The project will, when completed, manage the traffic along these sections
of the national and regional roads in this urban area of Letterkenny,
which has a designated speed limit is 50kph. The proposed works are
mainly confined within the extents of the existing road cross section, with
a small amount of land purchase to provide extra width where required.
The scheme includes for the installation of a MOVA (“Microprocessor
Optimised Vehicle Actuation”) controlled traffic management system at
all junctions with road widening at various locations, new signing and
road lining. The works improve and extend existing shared
pedestrian\cycle pathways and provide for controlled crossing points at
all 4 no. junctions along with provision for a new pedestrian\cycle traffic
light crossing in the vicinity of Rossan College with footpath realignment
to facilitate the new layout.
In 2020, through funding allocated by the DoT, Donegal County Council
completed some advance site clearance works, commenced acquisition of
some small parcels of land and following a procurement process,
purchased a MOVA controlled traffic signal system in November 2020 for
the tendered cost of €336,000.
DoT has allocated €550,000 to the project for 2021. The civil
engineering works elements of the project have been designed and
construction will be completed from the Joe Boner / Neil T Blaney
Junction up to but not including the Polestar roundabout as Contract 1,
subject to Covid 19 restrictions. This road is a regional road and so the
DoT funding is applicable.
The TII has indicated support for the funding
of the remaining elements of the project along the N56 including the
Polestar roundabout. Separately, the N56 4 Lane Project is due to
commence in Q2 2021. The remaining Traffic Management works will be
considered with respect to the timing of the various phases of
construction and the implementation of those works on the N56 4 Lane
road
In summary, the Letterkenny Traffic Management Project will be
constructed in phases, commencing with the Joe Boner/Neil T Blaney
junction to the Polestar roundabout in 2021 and each phase will provide
a benefit to the existing congestion in its own right. The Contract 1 work
will also facilitate the opening of the new Joe Boner road.