Traffic situation “a free for all” claim frustrated residents

Residents living in the St Mary's Place/St Mary's Terrace area of Athlone have described the traffic situation as “a free for all” and have requested Westmeath County Council to implement a permit parking system to enable them to park outside their own homes.

In a strongly-worded letter sent to Westmeath County Council officials and the eight elected representatives on the Athlone Moate Municipal District, Liz Fletcher, Chair of the St Mary's Residents Group, said the lives of the residents in the area have been “on hold for long enough” and urgent attention needs to be given to addressing the myriad traffic issues plaguing the local community.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, Liz Fletcher described the traffic situation in St Mary's as “a free for all” and added that the community feels they are just “going around in circles with the council at this stage and nothing whatsoever is being done.”

Having sent the letter to the council on November 20 last, Ms Fletcher said the only responses they have received so far were from Cllr Frankie Keena and the council's Director of Services, Willie Ryan, who has offered to visit the area to examine the traffic issues first-hand.

The St Mary's Residents Group represents the 16 residential properties in the neighbourhood, made up of eight homes on St Mary’s Terrace side of the street and a further eight homes opposite from The Little Theatre down to Shalom House, St Hilda’s Day Service.

In its letter to the council, the group outlines how residents have to contend on a daily basis with “speeding traffic, a serious increase in heavy goods vehicles (passing through an area of protected buildings) and parking issues” among other issues such as “serious security concerns including drug abuse and anti-social activity to the back of St Mary’s Terrace”.

In expressing the fear that they may be “swallowed up in change” the residents say they are hopeful the council will work with them to address some of “the serious issues that are having a profound effect on our daily lives”.

The letter states that parking in St Mary's is “all over the place, with little heed paid to double yellow lines etc” and, as residents, they believe they have “no option but to park at will”. They also add that cars are “constantly parking illegally” on the stretch of road from The Little Theatre to St Mary's Square, especially during Church services, and that is it “not uncommon” to see traffic blocked and unable to get through. “Emergency services will be blocked at some point if the matter is not dealt with,” they point out.

St Mary’s Residents Group has formally requested the council to implement the following changes:

· The street be declared a Resident Permit Parking Only Area. Allow each of the 16 homes the right to purchase one parking permit per house.

· Temporary traffic calming measures be put in place as a matter of urgency.

· A ban on Heavy Goods Vehicles.

· A pedestrian crossing outside St Hilda’s Day Service.

The residents of the St Mary's area, whom Liz Fletcher describes as “a mix of elderly residents who have lived on the street for their whole lives and a number of young families” strongly feel that their rights as residents are being “compromised every day” due to the inaction of Westmeath County Council.

“We have cooperated in every possible way with everything we have been asked to do,” points out Liz Fletcher, “and we have been told time and time again after every council briefing we attended that we would be kept in the loop, but that has never happened, and all we are asking for is that our rights are respected and that our street be regarded as part of our living space.”