Located just off the motorway at Junction 11 on the M6/N6, Arcadia Athlone Retail Park management have, using data published by Transport Infrastructure Ireland(TII ), undertaken analysis of traffic in Athlone during the Covid-19 crisis.
Using data published by TII on points around Athlone, management specifically focused on the traffic coming through the counter based on the M6/N6road between Junction 11 Athlone (Centre ) and Junction 12, Athlone Bypass, Co.Westmeath
The analysis shows that traffic levels in April have declined by 79 percent when compared to the same time last year.
Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 12 ) saw the lowest number on record with just 3,677 vehicles passing (24 hour count, both directions ). This shows a significant drop in traffic numbers compared to Easter Sunday 2019, which had 41,886 vehicles passing, a drop in excess of 90 percent.
However, there has been some signs of increases recently with a 10 percent increase in Monday-Friday vehicle movements on a like-for-like basis. Please follow Arcadia Athlone Facebook Page where they will continue to analyse weekly with vehicle movement reports.
The retail sector has been hard-hit by the current crisis. B&Q Athlone, the anchor tenant at Arcadia, has been closed since March 28 and, at the time of going to press, there is no news from regarding a possible re-opening of this store.
“We hope this analysis is of interest to people in Athlone and we welcome comments and feedback on our Facebook page. We think it will be interesting to track the vehicle movements over the coming months and watch for trends as the COVID-19 restrictions are changed and as we all slowly get back to normal life,” Katie Gleeson, Marketing, Arcadia Retail Park, noted.
“There are some signs in the data that people are taking more journeys over the past week or so. That might be essential workers still working hard to keep everything going. But that also might be a sign that people are being less strict and that some boredom with being at home is beginning to creep in,” Fiachra McLoughlin, Director, Arcadia Retail Park, remarked.
