Cork City needs a second traffic control centre to deal with the massive growth in traffic in the southside of the city, according to a Labour Party representative.

Peter Horgan said a second control centre is needed, especially for Douglas and Carrigaline.

“Douglas traffic is at a critical influx point especially,” said Mr Horgan.

Independent councillor Mick Finn recently called for a report to be furnished to Cork City Council on the changed traffic junction on the Douglas Rd, where the road comes off the N40 by Douglas Community School and Willow Park. Huge tailbacks are causing headaches for local commuters, he said.

Mr Horgan said Mr Finn is “completely correct in his assessment of the traffic light chaos” entering and exiting Douglas village.

“With the best will in the world, the Bus Connects corridors are years away,” Mr Horgan said. “We need to establish a second control centre for the southside to deal with the flows at Douglas and also on the link. It is maddening for commuters that one incident on the South link can jam up the entire southside of the city.”

Mr Horgan pointed to the long tailbacks seen in the area yesterday morning, following a multi-vehicle collision on the N40 westbound near Douglas.

More drivers are reluctant to use the link during peak hours, he said, meaning motorists are going off the main route and into nearby residential areas. “The knock-on effect is the suburbs get absolutely jammed,” Mr Horgan said. “A second control centre could work to alleviate and change traffic syncs, move Traffic Corps to places faster, and you would still have a centre to monitor the north east and west of the city area.”