Tramore Local Area Plan - Waterford County Council

Chapter 7: Transportation and Traffic Management7.1 IntroductionTraffic growth on our roads has escalated to unprecedented levels in recentyears. This is mainly due to a prosperous economy with many families havingmultiple cars. The increasing population of Tramore has introducedsignificant amounts of additional traffic onto the roads which in turn led togreater demands on traffic management and car parking.The Plan must achieve a proper balance between providing good access,managing traffic and maintaining environmental quality. It is a policy of theCouncil to ensure the provision, improvement and maintenance of anadequate roads infrastructure to achieve the strategic objectives of the Plan inaccordance with the principles of sustainable planning and development.In order to ensure that developments are sustainable, land use andtransportation planning has to be co-ordinated and integrated. Developmentsshould be designed to reduce the trip generation by cars and a modal shift intransportation from cars to more sustainable forms of integrated publictransport will be encouraged.7.2 Tramore Traffic Management PlanThe Tramore Traffic Management Plan was prepared in 2001 and its principalaim was to develop a 10 year Traffic Management Plan for Tramore whichwould relieve existing and future traffic congestion in the town takingaccount the predicted increase in traffic demand.Due to the increase in car usage and trip generation it is recommended thatthe Traffic Management Plan prepared for Tramore in 2001 be reviewed andupdated to address the current situation. Until such time as the TrafficManagement Plan is reviewed the policies contained within the current Planare relevant and applicable.7.3 Commuter TrafficFigures taken from the 2002 census illustrate that the dominant mode oftransport in Tramore is the car. In achieving a sustainable communityalternative modes of transport shall have to be encouraged and promoted. Tothis end Waterford County Council is committed to ensuring high qualitypedestrian and cycle routes in all new applications.52