A Waterford councillor has called for the toll on the Waterford City bypass to be bought out or relocated.
Waterford Council will soon prepare a case for presentation to the Minister for Transport seeking this after a motion from Cllr. Mary Roche was passed unanimously at this month's Plenary Meeting.
Cllr. Roche believes getting rid of the toll could free up traffic congestion on Waterford's Quays.
She says it's created problems for retailers in Waterford City Centre.
"The city has become increasingly clogged up by traffic - that from what we can understand, doesn't need to be directly coming through the city. However, because the bypass is tolled - they're choosing to come through the city and clog up the streets, rather than take the toll. I have been meeting with members of the retail community over recent weeks and months. A lot of the talk is that customers have told the retailers that they're just turning around and going back because it takes so long to get into Waterford."
Outlining her belief that having a toll is actually counter-productive, Cllr. Roche noted how an average of 5,400 people use the Waterford bypass every day while the figure is far higher on the Quays.
"While I don't have any proof of it - I would argue that if you knocked on the windows of every car going down the Quay, and asked them where they were going, I would say 70-80% of them are not stopping in the city. They're literally using it as a means to get through the city. In 2019, Roughan and O'Donovan did a report on the traffic movements around the North Quays area. At the time, they said that the annual average daily traffic on the 680 - which is the Quays and the Bridge - was 18,200 cars a day."
The motion was unanimously supported by councillors, and Director of Services, Fergus Galvin told the meeting that the Council will now look into how the case can be put together.
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