In Mitchelstown pedestrians and motorists alike are complaining that the traffic lights at the top of Upper Cork Street are causing unwanted delays and could lead to an accident, writes Brian Moore. The traffic lights at the crossroads were, it is claimed, working perfectly up until work was carried out on the road surface over the past few weeks.
“The lights are now very slow to change - if you are on the Brigown road the lights change every 5 minutes but only stay green for less than 10 seconds coming from the other direction on Church Street. It is causing chaos,“ one motorist told The Avondhu.
The lights are also causing problems for pedestrians.
“Somebody is going to get hurt if the lights aren’t looked at immediately. Pedestrians get less than 15 seconds to cross the road before the lights change for the cars. Elderly people are finding it very difficult indeed to make it across the road in 15 second and there have been a few near misses,” local man, Jim Murphy, said.
Council engineer, Denis Beecher, is aware of the problem - “The lights are activated by a sensor in the road. When work was carried out resurfacing the road the sensor had to be removed. New sensors have now been received and the work to install them will start on this Thursday, October 8,” Mr Beecher told The Avondhu.