Major study of Tullamore traffic planned next month

Traffic and pedestrian movements in Tullamore will come under the microscope next month, when a series of traffic surveys are expected to be conducted in and around the town.

Offaly County Council recently invited contractors to submit tenders for a series of traffic surveys that are due to be completed in January in order to feed into a 'Tullamore Area-Based Transport Assessment' plan.

The local authority said a "large data collection of traffic and parking surveys" were needed in order to establish the "baseline conditions" for Tullamore's local transport plan.

The surveys next month are expected to cover a large part of the Tullamore area. They will include 'junction turning counts' at 37 locations in Tullamore, pedestrian counts at 27 locations; 'maximum queue length' surveys at 19 locations, and automatic traffic counts at 28 locations.

Parking surveys will also be carried out at 43 on-street parking locations and at 10 off-street locations.

According to the tender documents, "The surveys are to be undertaken over one neutral week in January, after the Christmas holidays, and when all schools / colleges are open again."

It was added that the surveys should not be undertaken "during adverse or untypical situations.... such as school holidays, strikes, protests, very heavy rainfall, snow or sleet, fuel crises, significant road works, accidents etc," and that they "must not coincide with the February Bank Holiday weekend".

Contractors seeking to carry out the traffic surveys must submit their tenders, for the attention of the council's Senior Executive Engineer, Rory Moore, by 4pm on Friday next, December 9.