New data reveals traffic volume rise on Kildare motorways as government cancels major public transport project – TD

Figures released to a Kildare TD have revealed that traffic on the motorways in the greater Dublin area, including the M4, M7 and M9 has grown 2% in the last year.

The data, which was released to Aidan Farrelly of the Social Democrats, also reveals that traffic on the M50 has grown by 50,000 vehicles a day (approximately 11%) compared to pre-covid levels.

Daily traffic on Kildare's M7 is now at 116,000 vehicles, which makes it the second busiest road in the country after the M50.

“This news comes less than a week after the government put the DART + South West project on ice for the next five years, which I personally think, for all intents and purposes, effectively cancels it,” Deputy Farrelly said.

“This data, from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), is the cold hard facts that should be driving massive investment in infrastructure.

“TII have said that M50 traffic is now well beyond Celtic Tiger numbers and there is nothing else they can do to increase its capacity. They can’t go any wider and they can’t go double decker.

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“The greater Dublin area has seen a 17% population increase since the Celtic Tiger years which, combined with a catastrophic failure to build houses, forces people to move further and further away from where they work.

“That means more commuting and more people stuck in cars or creaking and inadequate public transport.

“I honestly think the Government doesn’t seem to understand that there are real-world consequences to their failure to invest in public transport and housing.

“The public of Kildare should be inundated with constant and ambitious improvements and expansions to the railway infrastructure and dedicated bus lanes.

“But with the growing population and the government’s decision to shelve Dart + South West, it’s clear that it’s only going to get worse.

“We are well past the point where the focus of transport infrastructure must be to give commuters high quality alternatives to sitting in their cars for hours a day.

According to Deputy Farrell, other countries are pouring “hundreds of millions every year” into alternatives to the car, such as trains, buses, cycling and walking infrastructure.

Instead, he argued, there has been a chronic failure on the part of successive governments to invest in public transport.

There is now a very real danger, he said, that it will start to negatively impact the economic life of the county.

He added: “This is a serious quality of life issue for many, not just those who have to commute to and from Dublin. There is hardly a person in Kildare who isn’t affected directly or indirectly by the lack of proper transport infrastructure.

“Even if you’re not trying to get into Dublin, you’re unnecessarily wasting time sitting in traffic because of the consequences of a lack of investment.”