FIANNA Fáil councillor Catherine Slattery has urged Limerick Council to make improvements to the traffic and lighting layout at the entrance to Woodlawn Park in Ballysimon, given the fact that two new housing schemes have been established in the area.
Speaking at February’s Metropolitan District meeting, Cllr Slattery pointed out that Woodlawn is a well-established estate, with mostly elderly residents. She reminded the Council executive that she last raised this issue in October 2022, but was left with no choice but to raise it again as “nothing has changed”.
“Except for the fact that two new housing estates have been established. One at the back of the existing estate and the other at the entrance. In total, roughly 30 new properties have been established in the area, which brings more traffic and cars,” the City East representative commented.
“Woodlawn Park is an estate off the Ballysimon Road, which is a very busy road. Residents of Woodlawn Park are like prisoners in their estate when trying to exit the estate, which can take up to 10 minutes. There’s a yellow box but more times than not, cars are driving into it,” she added.
She asked for more lighting to be provided at the entrance as well as traffic lights.
“This is not a big ask. There are over 150 properties in Woodlawn Park. Limerick City and County Council is all about connectivity, so why aren’t they listening to the people of the estate?” Cllr Slattery asked.
In response, the Council’s Director of Transportation, Mobility, and Public Realm, Patricia Liddy, explained that the option of installing traffic lights at this location as it is not suitable due to the presence of vehicular accesses within the junction. Such controls, she told Cllr Slattery, are not used at exits of residential areas which are not through-roads onto main routes.
Ms Liddy also said that construction of apartments is ongoing at this junction, and improvements to the public lighting in the area will be carried out by the developer.