Traffic chaos in urban areas in lead up to Christmas.

Labour Transport spokesperson, Senator Kevin Humphreys has said that the city centre traffic chaos over the last few days shows once again the urgent need for the reinstatement of Operation Freeflow.

Senator Humphreys said:

“I have repeatedly raised the need for a reintroduction of Operation Freeflow to deal with the ongoing traffic chaos in Dublin, and many other urban areas in the busy Christmas period.

“With heavy traffic due to wet conditions, the gridlock this morning demonstrated once again the need for this. If such traffic chaos is caused by rain, we are going to see a repeat of the traffic gridlock experienced last year as we head into the wet and cold Christmas period.

“This gridlock could have been easily predicted, but there have been few efforts to manage the growing traffic volumes, and ensure the rules of the road are being observed.

“We have seen long-term proposals in relation to Bus Connects but we must manage the traffic chaos that this currently in effect, and is only going to worsen during December.

“In the past, probationary Gardaí from Templemore were drafted into Dublin to ensure that junctions and bus lanes in and around Dublin city centre were policed along with other focused measures.

“We have seen a number of years of new recruits into Templemore. It is time to bring back Operation Freeflow.

“Operation Freeflow was first introduced by the then Minister for Environment Brendan Howlin in December 1996 and the key objective was to ensure that traffic laws were enforced such as keeping junctions, bus lanes and yellow boxes clear.

“The Government and relevant authorities including An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council should now act to ensure for the next fortnight there is a robust plan in place.”