Athlone traffic came to a standstill yesterday [Thursday] morning as a combination of a road collision and ongoing roadworks left motorists experiencing traffic delays of up to three hours.
An early morning accident occurred when a lorry went off the N6 bypass between the Roscommon and Monksland exits. No injuries occurred; however the incident sent the town and its surrounds into traffic chaos for the greater part of the morning.
Combined with planned diversions, and the closure of the eastbound on-ramp at junction 13 and the eastbound off-ramp at junction 12, the incident meant hundreds of workers and those on school runs from Monksland and Bealnamulla took over two hours to arrive in Athlone town centre.
The bypass was finally declared open to westbound traffic shortly before noon.
