‘It seems that is going on forever and yet we are still nowhere’

Plans for a bypass in Julianstown need to move with more urgency according to local councillors who say the situation is a growing “nightmare” for residents and road users in the area.

Two scheme are currently in place for the area, the Julianstown Traffic Calming Scheme which involves traffic calming of the main road through Julianstown through widening of footpaths, narrowing the carriageway, reduction of junction diameters and improving bus stops and pedestrian crossings.

Going hand in hand is the Traffic Relief Scheme which is a long term bypass project for Julianstown.

Council officials presented a progress report with a number of potential routes outlined for the bypass for the village but the only progress that has been made is the name change of the project from the Julianstown Bypass to the Julianstown Traffic Relief Scheme according to local Cllr Sharon Tolan who said:

“It just seems that is going on forever and yet we are still nowhere. It has taken six months to have an appraisal and then have a meeting about the appraisal , is that how long it has taken to just get a meeting to discuss it?

"This is a nightmare not just for anyone who lives in Julianstown which has a small enough population but for anyone who is travelling anywhere from East Meath or south Drogheda. You have school kids there all being told the best thing to possibly do is to walk and cycle to school and yet they are navigating that with 22,000 vehicles a day.”

Tolan raised concerns that ongoing housing development in the area is only going to add to the huge volume of traffic through Julianstown. She added:

"Is it our own resources or is it NTA dragging their heels on this? They really need to start moving a bit quicker. The only progress that it feels like we have made is that we have renamed it from the Bypass scheme to the Traffic Relief Scheme and that is not progress at all in my view. Can we move this on swifter with a bit more urgency?

"We are still building a lot of homes there in Julianstown, Bettystown, Donacarney, south Drogheda, this should have been delivered ten or twenty years ago, the fact that it might still take five or ten years is very, very frustrating.”

Labour Cllr Elaine McGinty said the increase in toll fees is going to cause further congestion in the area.

"Looking at the recent figures produced at how many cars are going through Julianstown post covid it’s up 2% its is just getting bigger and bigger. The tolls are increasing at the moment as well so that means you are going to have people in a cost of living crisis avoiding the tolls. The village can’t take anymore traffic, it can’t even take what’s going through at the moment.

"Traffic calming measures are welcomed definitely but the bypass that you referred to at the start of your presentation where is that, will it be included in the variation plan that we think is coming for our area?

"The toll is causing untold damage to the area. Julianstown is a small village that cannot take the traffic. Traffic calming measures are welcome but we need a bypass or a solution to the transport problems in this part of the county.

“It is really unacceptable that is has got so bad and we don’t have a plan to bypass."

Fianna Fail Cllr Tom Behan said:

"Traffic calming is very important but not until we divert the traffic, it is great that we can put in traffic calming measures to make sure the area is safe but slowing down 22,000 cars going through the village is not the solution.

“We need to divert the traffic away because it is mayhem.”

The bottom line for residents in Julianstown is a bypass according to Fine Gael cllr Paddy Meade who said:

"The Julianstown community as a strong lobby group, when they are ringing me in Lobinstown, they must be ringing local councillors. We see the new development plan in Drogheda, a lot more houses are planned to be built and there are a huge number of people bypassing the toll. The people of Julianstown want a full bypass.”

Cllr Stephen McKee said traffic calming measures is not enough for the busy route. He added:

"It is a disaster in Julianstown with the amount of cars going through the village, we have a traffic calming scheme, 22,000 cars are at a standstill a lot of the time, we are trying to calm traffic there, it is already fairly calm because cars can’t move. It is needed to make the area safer."

The report found that 40 percent of the traffic coming through Julianstown originates in Laytown/Bettystown, 15 percent come from Mornington and the balance comes from the southern Drogheda area.