Carpooling facility for Wexford commuters being discussed as drivers leave cars on side of M11

Commuters driving from north Wexford to Dublin on a daily basis may soon be able to avail of a carpooling facility on the outskirts of Gorey. At the October meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor Paddy Kavanagh revealed that many of those working in Dublin had already begun sharing journeys to the capital. 'We need to put in place a car park for people who are travelling from Gorey to Dublin every day so they can carpool,' said the Wexford Independent Alliance (WIA) councillor. 'A landowner had to put bollards out to keep people from parking on their property, they're now parking on the side of the road at the exit to Blackwater/Oulart. 'There's at least a dozen cars parked there every day. I've asked Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) if it would look at putting in a facility at that junction, to encourage people to carpool so we'd have fewer cars on the road.' While some upgrades have been made on the M11, Cllr Kavanagh questioned the usefulness of the projects being funded by TII. Paddy Kavanagh at the Blackwater/Oulart Enniscorthy exit. PHOTO: Sabrina Ffrench 'There's a new digital sign on the road telling you how far you are from Greystones and all the rest, and at what cost?' he asked. 'Everyone has a satnav on their phones now which will tell you how far you are from Greystones or Dublin or Gorey, that money could have been used to put down tarmac for 500 cars. 'Some common sense needs to be applied here, I think the powers that be have forgotten what the people want.' He found no opposition from the top table. 'I couldn't agree more, the county needs proper park and ride facilities,' agreed chief executive Eddie Taaffe. 'We should approach TII and the National Transport Authority (NTA) and put a programme of works in place, because we do need to reduce the number of cars on the road.' And, according to director of roads Eamonn Hore, the possibility of a park and ride facility in Wexford had already been brought to the attention of TII. 'It's investigating the possibility of a park and ride at Junction 22 on the M11,' he said. 'It's progressed as far as having discussions with the landowners there.' Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.