Numerous complaints have been expressed regarding the unequal time allocated to the different routes passing through the traffic lights at Kingston which affect routes connecting Barna road to the university hospital, Taylor's Hill, the Salthill Promenade, and the Dominican Convent.
Motorists travelling on the main road are the victims of this inequality as they have shorter time allowance to cross the road compared to the traffic on either side, resulting in many complaints being reported to local councillor Donal Lyons.
"I have received complaints about those lights in the past but there are a few features which make it difficult to resolve the problem. The traffic turning right into Turner's Hill is a lengthy manoeuvre and that eats into the time available for those who want to drive straight across. The unfortunate reality of the situation, however, is that the channel is quite narrow and the structure of that traffic light system can't accommodate a widening. Those lights have been tweaked in the past but regretfully the configuration of the lights isn't very flexible."
Cllr Lyons continued by citing transportation of students to the Dominican Convent school as being another possible contributor to the growth in traffic congestion between 8am and 9am in the morning. The introduction of pedestrian lights at this t-junction is another reason for the brief time designated to drivers driving on the main road.”
"For safety reasons, the pedestrian lights were erected to allow for the safer passage of students to the school and as well as that parents would be driving their children to school so when people are trying to make that turn it causes delays so that's why it seems like there is less time available for the traffic on the main road.
Cllr Lyons concluded that there are limited resolutions for alleviating the congestion. Revisiting the alteration time in the traffic lights is, in his opinion, the most viable route to stabilising the matter.
“The most obvious solution is to re-examine the frequency of the lights so that everyone gets adequate time to cross and to keep traffic moving. The problem remains with the narrow channel in the road so when traffic is turning into Taylor's Hill that is going to cause unavoidable delays. Unless perhaps the right turn is outlawed but doing that would cause other problems."
