Traffic jam chaos is danger to school kids - Roche

An unmanageable build up of traffic outside Bridgetown Vocational College during school pickups and drop offs is a danger to pedestrians and motorists, especially students according to a local community activist.  Mick Roche claims that a lack of parking caused by a failure on the County Councils part to efficiently plan for the development of the surrounding area is to blame.

"The build up of traffic at school times is now completely unmanageable," The Sinn Féin local election candidate said, "Children are crossing the road to meet their lifts while oncoming traffic is trying to manoeuvre through the chaos.  It's only a matter of time before an accident happens."

"At the moment there is no pedestrian crossing on either of the roads that border the school grounds.  There are no effective traffic calming measures in place.  There are no footpaths on the far side of the road in front of the main entrance.  There is also no authoritative figure to guide the flow of traffic.  In other built up areas where schools exist, often with smaller catchment areas, lollypop people are employed to safely get students across pedestrian passes."

"The fault for this situation lies with the complete lack of planning by local authorities during the boom year’s rapid development of Bridgetown village and the expansion of the student pool in the schools catchment area."

"We will be petitioning the County Council to make use of local waste ground to accommodate parked cars.  If this is impossible, traffic calming measures and safe pedestrian crossings need to be put in place to prevent a potential accident in the future."