attanagh-trafficThe closure of the N77 along Durrow’s Carrigan Street is causing chaos on rural roads near the town. Frustrated residents took to social media this morning to vent their anger at the traffic jams building in the Attanagh area as commuters tried to make their way to work in the larger towns of Portlaoise and Kilkenny.

The official diversion route via the Abbeyleix-Ballinakill-Ballyouskill-Ballyragget R432 road is in order to avoid Durrow during the closure of Carrigan Street. However it appears that many HGVs are ignoring the signed diversions and choosing to take shortcuts via Attanagh to get to their destination.

The HGVs and extra cars are having to pull well into the side of the road to allow oncoming traffic pass and it’s destroying the verges on these rural roads. Many of the houses along these roads have maintained the verges and to see them being cut up by heavy traffic is disheartening. (Photo: Lisa Donohue via Facebook)

People on Facebook have been calling on Laois County Council and local politicians to do more to resolve this issue, but apart from deploying staff at every junction on a 24-hour basis it’s hard to see how this issue will be solved.