Commuters, you’ve been warned.
Ten routes in Ireland have been pinpointed by the AA by what they expect to be a significant increase in traffic volumes next week.
Motorists have been warned to allow additional time when commuting to work moving forward, as schools begin to reopen after the summer break and commuting volumes are expected to increase significantly from late August into the start of September.
AA Roadwatch has identified the ten routes below as potential traffic blackspots, along with Junction 9 (Naas North) and Junction 19 (Naas South) on the M7, the Dunkettle Interchange in Cork as well as Tralee, Wexford Town and Newbridge.
- Tralee – heading in from Mounthawk and Monavalley
- Killarney – inbound on the N22 Tralee Rd
- Letterkenny – heading in on the Ramelton Rd and from The Mountain Top
- Monaghan Town – Clones Rd inbound
- Westport – inbound on the Newport Rd
- Ballina – inbound on the Foxford Rd
- Wexford Town – heading in from Ferrybank
- Newbridge – Both ways on the Naas Rd around Leinster Bridge
- Kilmoon Cross (north of Ashbourne in Meath)
- South through Julianstown in Meath
“Regular commuters into cities across Ireland will have noticed a drop off in traffic over the summer months, and particularly in August, but with schools returning over the next few weeks, traffic volumes will start to increase this week,” said Arwen Foley, Editor of AA Roadwatch.
“As well as the start of a new school year, August/September represents the start of a new traffic year with the number of cars on Irish roads increasing in line with schools and colleges re-opening and the end of the holiday season for workers.”
“While the lack of school traffic is the main cause of reduced traffic during the summer season, it is holiday time for the rest of us as well. In any given week during July and August you have close to 10% of the workforce taking time off,” Foley added.
“The two factors together are enough to take the pressure out of the system and it’s why we have all had such easy commutes for the last two months. However, as weather conditions deteriorate and parents have to get children to school you’ll start to see many of those temporary cyclists return to their cars so quieter roads will become a thing of the past for another year.”
Motorists in Dublin are also advised to be aware of the recent road layout changes on Dublin’s North and South Quays, which were introduced on August 20.
More information on those layout changes can be found here.
