Wexford County Council has shelved plans to make Church Street in Gorey a left-hand-turn-only junction and will instead commission a full traffic review of the town centre.
District Engineer Joanne Kehoe announced the decision at the monthly meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD). She said consultants would be hired to conduct the review, and their recommendations would be assessed accordingly.
The original proposal would have required all vehicles exiting Church Street onto Main Street to turn left only, eliminating the right turn towards the Arklow Road direction.
The chairperson of Wexford County Council, Joe Sullivan, conducted his own traffic survey during the public debate. He counted 589 of 824 vehicles (71%) turning right at Church Street during one-hour intervals over four days in late March and early April 2026.
Sullivan said the proposal would “frustrate drivers to no end and cause incidents of road rage in an already traffic-congested town.” He has worked with traffic in Gorey for 40 years, including 28 years as a member of An Garda Síochána and 12 years as a local elected representative. Before this proposal, he had not heard anyone suggest making Church Street a left-hand turn.
He estimated that driving the alternative left-turn route would take approximately four minutes longer than turning right, and that the delay would increase to upwards of six minutes based on traffic volumes. Sullivan proposed alternative measures, including a raised crossing with flashing yellow balls at existing pedestrian lights, new traffic lights and raised crossings at the Church Street junction, and standardising parking in the direction of traffic flow in Gorey.
The proposal had faced significant opposition. At an earlier GKMD meeting in April 2026, Councillor Darragh McDonald said he had received nothing but negative feedback from the public.
Sullivan presented an initial one-hour survey showing 152 cars turning right and 53 turning left at Church Street. At that meeting, Kehoe said, “If the consensus is that no one’s in favour, we’ll go back to the drawing board and review it again.”
Wexford County Council received 13 submissions from members of the public regarding the proposed changes. Social media users warned the change would create serious congestion on Rafter Street, John Street, and Éire Street.
Councillor Pip Breen welcomed the decision to suspend the plan. “We are due a full traffic review of the town anyway. It needs a complete revamp,” he said.
Sullivan noted that over the past 40 years, between the exit from Éire Street onto Arklow Road and Gorey District Hospital at McCurtain Street, seven people lost their lives in traffic incidents, with only one driver prosecuted and found at fault. He argued that installing traffic lights at Church Street, similar to those at the 64 junction, would resolve the safety issues.
The Church Street proposal was initially raised on social media by Councillor Craig Doyle. He also separately proposed a left-turn-only change at the junction of Leather Factory Road and Paul Funge Boulevard in Ramstown, which received more positive feedback. Sullivan characterised the proposal as a “no-brainer” that would garner universal approval.