‘Traffic chaos’ in East Cork results in road closure delay

Cork County Council has announced it is postponing a road closure in East Cork after a local TD said that there has been “traffic chaos” in the area since the installation of problematic new traffic lights.

Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide told The Echo that Lakeview roundabout in Midleton was a huge issue in his constituency of Cork East.

He said: “It is extremely frustrating for commuters who are left stewing in traffic queues as they are trying to get to work or to school.”

“The frustration of commuters reached boiling point” last Friday, with an announcement from Cork County Council that part of the Bailick Rd would be closed from January to July 2026 to facilitate an extension of the active travel scheme, he said. He contacted the roads director of Cork County Council to ask for a delay to the closure, due to it coinciding with school term and commencing in the winter “when road conditions are most severe”.

A Cork County Council spokesperson told The Echo that “every effort has been made through the phasing of the works to avoid the need for temporary road closures during the construction of this scheme. However, given the constraints that exist on the junction of the R630 and L3621 and along the L3621, it is necessary to temporarily close the junction to safely construct the works”.

They said they amended the proposed temporary road closure after consultations, and it will now be in effect from March to June 2026.

It comes amid other recent issues with traffic in this area, Mr Quaide said, explaining that the installation of traffic lights on the R630 has been the main recent factor.

He said: “The lights are operating on fixed intervals instead of responding to actual traffic flow. The council has installed fibre optic connections that will allow the lights to communicate with each other and facilitate much better traffic flow, but these cannot be turned on until the road is resurfaced.

“The council is prevented from resurfacing the road by Uisce Éireann’s prolonged delays laying a water connection to a new housing estate near the Lakeview Roundabout.”

A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann told The Echo that phase one of the works are complete, and that they are currently liaising with the local roads authority to complete remedial reinstatement works along the route prior to final completion, proposed for January.

Phase two includes a further 250m of upgrade, currently at site investigation stage, with upgrade works expected to commence in March.