BY COLM BRADLEY
With the news that Enniskillen traffic wardens were placed one and two in the top 20 traffic wardens, in terms of tickets issued, a larger issue has loomed onto the horizon: 'Does Enniskillen have enough traffic spaces?'
The traffic management section of the DRD based at County Hall, Omagh, provided the following figures: 1,430 parking spaces in Enniskillen, of which 786 are free and 644 are pay and display.
This is almost 400 spaces more than the next biggest town, Omagh, which has 1,070 spaces split between 619 pay and display and 451 free spaces. In fact, in this region, which takes in the six council areas of Fermanagh, Strabane, Omagh, Cookstown, Magherafelt and Dungannon, there is no town with as many parking spaces as Enniskillen.
So, it seems that we do quite well when it comes to traffic spaces.
The figures relating to traffic wardens and their issuing of tickets were obtained by the BBC News website from the Department for Regional Department (DRD) under the Freedom of Information Act. The DRD is now responsible for on-street parking, control having been passed from the PSNI towards the end of last year.
It awarded the relevant contract to National Car Parks (NCP), which employs approximately 200 traffic wardens in Northern Ireland.
A spokesman for the NCP, Tim Cowen, defended the role of the traffic wardens: "This isn't rocket science. The most traffic tickets are given out where there are the most parking violations, but I couldn't comment on individual traffic wardens," he said.
In a statement, the DRD said that there is a misconception that traffic wardens 'actually get bonuses based on the tickets they issue'.
"They are paid the same salary whether they give out 100 or 1,000 tickets to illegally parked vehicles," it continued.
There is no doubt that people in Enniskillen are parking illegally. Of that, there is little argument. But, 1,017 car parking spaces seems remarkably low for a town that has the volume of traffic that Enniskillen experiences.
Indeed, traffic problems have hit an all time low in the county town. The long, snaking line of traffic that used to be only associated with the Sligo Road can now be found on all major roads into Enniskillen.
The Dublin Road, the Irvinestown Road, the Tempo Road and the Shore Road are all backed up in the morning, with cars trying to get into or at least through Enniskillen.
And now for the first time, we are beginning to see queues on these roads at non-peak times.
One irate caller phoned 'the Herald' last week and asked the question: "Are the people who run Enniskillen stupid? Why do they not just build a one-way system around the town, then cars could join and leave at their ease. it is just crazy what is going on at the moment."
Another caller was furious about being 'stuck for half an hour' trying to get from the Dublin Road out to the Irvinestown road.
In particular, the roadworks where the Boer War Memorial once stood are creating real problems with drivers unsure of which lane to take although, when the traffic lights are erected, it is expected that much of the confusion and delay will be rectified.
