Temperamental traffic lights close to a Laois train station were the subject of considerable frustration at a meeting in Laois County Council this week.
A motion from Cllr John King called for the council to “repair and make safe the traffic lights at this very busy junction at Ballybrophy train station as a matter of serious concern”.
“We have to get a clear answer on this,” said Cllr King. “We don’t want to be back here again in a couple of months with the same issue.”
Cllr Conor Bergin backed up Cllr King, saying that “the lights are out on a regular basis”.
“The situation was safer before the lights were put in so they achieved the opposite of what they set out to do.
“(Irish Rail) get a lot of goodwill in the area from the community and local land owners. They have improved the facilities but this is an ongoing daily issue.”
Cllr James Kelly told the meeting of a driver who recently sat for almost 10 minutes waiting for the lights to change. “The road from Kilcoke is the major issue.”
Rory O’Callaghan from the council’s area office said that Road Design has organised the repair of these lights and that a “low-cost safety scheme application has been submitted to the Department for funding”.
“Ducting across the railway bridge is needed for the works,” he added. “A licence application is being prepared for submission to Irish Rail to facilitate the works”.
Separately Cllr King looked for an update on how many water pumps the council have in the area (he was told they have six and can hire out more if needed) and for salt bins to be provided in locations like schools, health centres and churches.
He was informed that a bin would be in the region of €600 or €700 to which he countered that a small bin he’d use on the back of a tractor for feeding cattle would be €200 or €300.
Cllr King asked if discretionary funding could be put towards salt bins, which it can, and if so if the council would fill them with salt. They can.
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