Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Drogheda's traffic is grinding to a halt every day. Indeed, the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, who lives locally will know that development north and south of the river is resulting in huge volumes of cars going into our town. It is being compounded by the closure of the Obelisk Bridge for essential repairs. It is a dangerous bridge which carried local traffic north and south of the Boyne without going into Drogheda. There can be queues of up to 100 cars waiting to get through a junction. People are very angry. Journey times for those going north and south in the town are increasing by around 45 minutes. Will the Tánaiste ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate Action and Communications, Deputy Ryan, to get Meath and Louth County Councils and Transport Infrastructure Ireland together to find a solution to this problem? Local people believe one solution must be to buy-out the toll, if possible. There is 11 years left to run on the contract. Can we find out what the figure is and, in the interim, find a solution? People are getting very angry and very distressed.

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