Bus shelter coming to Stradbally at last
One of the 'state-of-the-art' new bus shelters in Portlaoise
A BUS shelter is on the way to Stradbally at last, after a long wait in the queue.
The town will be included in Laois County Council’s 2025 programme for bus stop upgrade works, a council engineer has confirmed.
Failure to provide bus shelters in many towns around the county was described as “third world stuff” at a council meeting, with one councillor noting that more than €330,000 was spent on a bike shelter at Leinster House.
The issue was highlighted at the latest meeting of Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District, when Cllr Paschal McEvoy proposed that Stradbally be included as a location for a bus shelter, under a recently announced new scheme.
Senior engineer Diarmuid Donohoe, from the council’s active travel section, replied that Stradbally would be included this year.
Cllr McEvoy greeted the response as “great news” and asked that council staff consult residents regarding the best location for the shelter.
Cllr Aidan Mullins recalled that he got nowhere when he requested a bus shelter in Portarlington last April. At the time, he was told that the council was liaising with the National Transport Authority (NTA) but, almost a year later, nothing had happened.
Cllr Mullins said: “It’s a goddamn joke. I can’t believe you have to fight for simple infrastructure like a bus shelter, compared to the cost of a bike shed in Leinster House. It’s third world stuff.
“Everywhere that has a bus service should have a bus shelter. I can’t get my head around it. It’s a basic standard, but you have to put on your coat and hat to wait for a bus.”
Cllr Aisling Moran agreed, saying that children are standing out in freezing cold and rain in Ballylinan every morning. She said: “It’s basic stuff.” She also asked for the average cost of installing a bus shelter in Laois to be provided at the next meeting.
Cllr McEvoy commented that “hundreds of thousands” was spent on bus shelters in Portlaoise.
Cllr Ben Brennan said that elderly people in the Crettyard area are in a similar position and many depend on a bus to get to and from town. He said: “Maybe the council could provide them with umbrellas, because they are not giving them a bus shelter.”
In October 2023, director of services Simon Walton told a council meeting that the combined cost of civil works to install five new bus shelters in Portlaoise was €220,000. The shelters provided separately by the NTA are delivered to the prepared sites and ‘dropped’ into position.
