LOCAL GOLD: Terrie O’Shea, founder and owner of Killarney-based business Sorella Berries, celebrating her Gold award win at the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards held in Dingle last week. Her hand-crafted chocolate covered strawberries secured the top spot in national competition, earning recognition for the local food producer on the national stage.

Killarney councillor Martin Grady has called for an urgent review of traffic management across the town following severe delays along the Muckross Road during the morning rush hour.

Constituents living along Muckross Road, Woodlawn, and outer Muckross areas raised serious concerns with the local representative, reporting that motorists now face delays of over 30 minutes to travel from Flesk Bridge or Woodlawn Cross into Killarney town.

The situation is causing major disruption for parents doing school runs and commuters traveling to work every morning.

“This level of congestion is simply not acceptable,” said Cllr Grady. “I have been contacted by constituents who are experiencing significant delays every morning, with parents trying to get their children to school and people trying to commute into work being caught in traffic for prolonged periods.”

Cllr Grady urged Kerry County Council to look closely at the operation and light sequencing along the route.

“I am calling for a review of the traffic situation along the Muckross Road, including the operation and sequencing of the traffic lights and whether there are any other obstructions or traffic management issues contributing to the delays,” he said.

He stressed that the gridlock is not isolated to one approach road, but affects the entire urban area as population and traffic volumes continue to rise year on year.

“But this issue goes beyond the Muckross Road. Killarney as a whole is experiencing increasing levels of traffic congestion across the town. The people of Killarney have been suffering with traffic for far too long, and the situation is getting worse,” Cllr Grady said.

“Our population is growing and traffic volumes are increasing year on year. We need to look at the bigger picture and develop a proper traffic management plan for Killarney. We need to identify where the problems are, examine how traffic is being managed across the town and put measures in place to improve traffic flow. The current situation has gone beyond what is acceptable for residents, commuters and visitors to Killarney.”