A Green Party Councillor has called for tolls on the M50 to be abolished. 

Currently, car drivers pay between €2.50 to €3.80 to use the section of the M50 between Junction 6 (N3 Blanchardstown) and Junction 7 (N4 Lucan). 

However, Ballyfermot-Drimnagh representative Ray Cunningham said the village of Chapelizod has developed a “major problem with traffic” and he believes it is partly caused by people driving through it to avoid motorway tolls.  

“There’s just too many cars and trucks coming through the village,” he told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“It’s loud, it’s a lot of pollution, they take up space - and it’s dangerous. 

“Parents are very worried about their kids going to school; they have to walk them to school, they can’t let them cycle to school on their own. 

“It’s just a very worrying situation.” 

A sign for the village of Chapelizod. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Cllr Cunningham said research on traffic presented to Dublin City Council found that a significant amount of traffic could be diverted onto the M50. 

“A surprisingly large amount of traffic in the city was going from north to south, it wasn’t stopping in the city centre,” he said. 

“It was avoiding the M50 and it is partly driven by the toll. 

“So, the situation we have in Chapelizod and Lucan and a lot of places near the city centre is that places where people live have to deal with all the negative effects of traffic - all the noise and pollution and the danger.”

Cllr Cunningham described the M50 as a road that is “designed for cars and trucks” and people should be encouraged to use it if possible. 

“That road which is designed for traffic costs money and the place where people live, it’s free to drive,” he said. 

“So, we’re pushing people in the wrong direction.” 

When asked what his Green Party colleagues would think of his proposal, Cllr Cunningham he thought it very much in keeping with his party’s record in Government. 

“In the last Government, we were very focused on increasing public transport,” he said. 

“When we were spending on roads, Eamon Ryan’s focus was bypasses - taking traffic out of towns around the country and that rejuvenates towns.”

Main image: Queues of traffic at the West-Link Toll Bridge. Picture by: RollingNews