Letterkenny's garda superintendent has said traffic control at roundabouts during periods of heavy traffic congestion is a "fruitless exercise".
The town experienced heavy traffic problems again on Monday afternoon which coincided with the bank holiday in the North as visitors returned home from north and west Donegal. Such congestion has been a regular occurrence on bank holiday Mondays in r
ecent years.
The traffic congestion from Monday afternoon mainly affected the roads leading onto the Port Bridge roundabout including the Ramelton Road, Port Road, Neil T Blaney Road and the Ballyraine middle road.
There appeared to be no gardaíon traffic duty during the period of heavy congestion although locals say the problems were predictable.
Superintendent Vincent O'Brien said the traffic congestion was a result of engineering problems and the sheer volume of traffic entering the Port Road.
"The problem is that there is just one bridge over the river and, therefore, all traffic coming from the Kilmacrennan direction comes down the Mountain Top via the new bypass and all traffic is converging on that roundabout," he said.
"I think it is an engineering problem as you have traffic coming from virtually all ends of the town and converging on the one bridge."
He said gardaí had attempted traffic control measures in the past but it is not possible on a roundabout. "The purpose of having roundabouts is to allow traffic to flow freely and when you have traffic coming in from three different directions onto the roundabout it is down to sheer volume. While we do have patrols out, it is a fruitless exercise doing traffic control on a roundabout," he added.
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