Department 'dragging its feet' over Kildare's M4 Bus Priority Lane, says councillor

A Labour county councillor has accused the Department of Transport of “dragging its feet” with regard to passing essential legislation for Kildare's M4 Bus Priority Lane project.

Cllr Angela Feeney has said the full opening of the Bus Priority Lane requires legislation to be passed, allowing for the hard shoulder to be used by buses.

The M4 bus lane project has been completed for some months, but is still not in use.

The priority bus lane, the first of its kind on a motorway, is on the M4 between Maynooth and Leixlip and will use the hard shoulder as a full-time bus lane for buses to bypass traffic congestion.

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“I am calling on the Minister for Transport to progress the legislation so that this much needed facility can be used as intended”, said Cllr Feeney.

"The M4 bus priority lane aims to increase bus efficiency, reduce car dependency and improve public transport reliability during peak times. It is really badly needed.

“Why could this legislation not have been sorted when the works were happening over the past couple of years? 

“Now we have the ridiculous situation  where the bus lane lies idle, traffic is at a standstill and is getting worse every week, while the Department is dragging its feet on passing the required legislation.  Yet another example of the cart before the horse!”