Dunboyne rail plan needs to be given more thought - candidate

Plans to locate Dunboyne"s new railway station on the same site as the old one needs to be given more thought, according to local election candidate Michael McLoughlin. Mr McLoughlin was commenting on the design and plans for the Dunboyne rail link, which map out the alignment and the station design for Dunboyne and Pace. The design provides for 400 car-parking spaces adjacent the station, which will, according to McLoughlin, generate a large amount of traffic where congestion is already a problem. 'While the plan does provide for some improvement to the road infrastructure and the bridge, I believe there will be traffic chaos if more thought is not given to the plan,' he said. 'Everybody welcomes the belated arrival of the rail line to Dunboyne. However, the plans need to improve the lives of people in the area and placing 400 parking spaces off the one approach road from Clonee, raises a lot of questions. 'Traffic from Dunboyne to Loughsallagh is dreadful at rush hour, often tailing back for a mile or more. If 400 more cars use this route and are turning in and out of a new train station, there is the potential for traffic chaos,' he said. Mr McLoughlin said that even if the train took large numbers of local residents off the road, people coming form farther afield may simply replace them and the pattern of people turning off or across the flow of traffic always causes problems. 'These are the types of decisions we need to get right to ensure this critical piece of infrastucture works. Many people will still need to drive when the rail line arrives - for example, people working in industrial estates or areas not served by public transport. 'There needs to be a comprehensive look at the engineering of any junction and even the location of the station and parking. It would be a real tragedy if such a big infrastructural project actually made the situation worse for people in Dunboyne.'