Fianna Fáil Local Election candidate in Lucan, Caitríona McClean has said that residents living close to the bridge in Lucan village are growing increasingly annoyed by the traffic generated by heavy goods vehicles coming down into the village to cross the river to avoid the toll bridge on the M50. She said, “Lucan has a historic bridge which is over 200 years old. It’s the longest single span masonry arch bridge in the county and the people of Lucan identify with it – it’s part and parcel of the Lucan landscape. When this bridge was constructed, Lucan was in the countyside and had very few cars – certainly nobody imagined that such volume of traffic would be crossing Lucan bridge.
“The people of Lucan want to ensure the bridge is accessible for the community and surrounding areas into the future. Inevitably, tolls have increased since the toll bridge opened and as a result there are large volumes of traffic diverting into Lucan to avoid the cost of the toll. “The people of Lucan not only have to deal with the excessive traffic and the inconvenience this has on going about their daily lives but it also impacts the local environment given the dirt it creates, the air pollution and the noise. Old Rectory and Sarsfield Park residents are particularly impacted upon with cars bumber to bumber blocking the entrance and exit to their their estates during rush hours in particular. “Something does need to be done now and there are a range of options that might be considered including a review of the location of the M50 toll. I would like to see the NTA assess the impact on the village of Lucan of retaining the toll where it is currently positioned. “An environmental impact should also be carried out and I would also like to see the NTA examine some innovative ideas such as reducing the toll costs radically for frequent users so that commuters would no longer feel incentivised to detour through Lucan village. While I understand their importance, revenue generating schemes such as the M50 toll must not be allowed to negatively impact the environment”, she concluded.
