News
Killarney businessman swaps car for scooter to beat traffic
O
One Killarney businessman has come up with a novel way of dealing with the town’s crippling traffic problem: he has ditched his car in favour of a nifty scooter.
Fed up with trying to get around town during the busy tourist, Frank Doran of Safeguard Security decided to buy a scooter so he could bypass the long lines of traffic that plague Killarney throughout the summer months.
“We offer a 24-hour service and we need to get to people’s properties pretty quickly in the event of a burglary or fire alarm activation,” Frank explained. “The traffic is so frustrating around different parts of the town. It’s definitely worse this year. Last year was bad, and that’s what prompted me to think about getting a scooter, but this year has been hectic. If you’re out the Fossa side and you’re trying to get in towards town, you come up Mission Road and it’s bumper to bumper. It can take you back as far as the cathedral sometimes and it moves at a snail’s pace.
“It’s the bane of our lives, really.”
The TEIR 1 report, which was released earlier this year, highlighted the town’s intertwined traffic and parking issues as major concerns but Mr Doran says it’s time for action, not words.
“I know the council are trying to do the best they can and they’ve done lots of surveys, but nobody seems to be coming up with any ideas,” he said. “You wonder, what’s the point of these surveys?
“It’s a marvellous town and we’re probably victims of our own success in that regard. I understand that Killarney is probably unique with the amount of visitors who come here but we still need to be able to get around and manage our town better from a traffic point of view.
“I think if a number of businesspeople – who see what’s happening each day of the week – in conjunction with the council and the gardaí could set up a committee to look at the problem, it might be a far better option. They’re doing surveys for a number of years now but we’re still no better off. Somebody needs to do something.”
Mr Doran is just one of a large number of residents and business owners who have expressed their dismay at the traffic in Killarney this summer. It appears as though long tailbacks on Muckross Road, Lewis Road, Mission Road, Rock Road, Park Road and the Cork Road, among other places, have left locals at the end of their collective tether. Fair play to Mr Doran for thinking outside the box but for many Killarney people alternative transportation isn’t an option.
Hopefully this worrying issue isn’t swept under the carpet as things get quieter and we approach the off-season. Surely now is the time to address it head on; it can’t be left until next summer when things get out of hand again.
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