There was a time when we all thought gridlock would not happen, but it came to pass in Dublin; a time when those of us not living in the capital, in cities like Cork, believed the malaise was not transferable. Well, it is. There is gridlock almost everywhere - in Dublin, obviously, in the bigger cities such as Cork, Galway and Limerick, and even in the smaller towns, especially in the holiday season.
Some people are trying to do something about it. But the omens are not promising. The Traffic Research Unit at University College Cork says: "In times of economic growth, you get traffic jams. Congestion is one of the unhappy side-effects of prosperity. The authorities can pour money into road projects - tunnels, town by-passes, networks, light rail, underground trains - but without effective traffic management strategies much of this investment will not yield the required returns."
The unit is attempting to make some sense out of what we now know to be Murphy's Law: build the new roads with generous EU funding and the number of cars will increase immediately to occupy the new spaces.
For one, I am looking forward to the essential debate before the EU's inexorable expansion will lead to a smaller cut of the Euro cake for Ireland and a time when the upkeep of those pristine ring-roads, by-passes and highways becomes a matter for the Irish taxpayer.
If we had an early-warning system on these beautiful new roads, it would not be alerting us to Garda checkpoints - most likely in huge, yellow, digital letters - it would advise us to get ready for the tolls up ahead.
Someone has got to pay. It's got to be us.
Traffic, traffic-pollution and noise-abatement are issues that have prompted the growth of lucrative consultancy opportunities. UCC believes its unit is one of the leading expert consultancies in the area and now does most of its work within the State; originally, it worked mainly abroad.
Dr Donncha O Cinneide, who leads the team of five, says he is realistic about the prospect of persuading people to leave behind the shelter of their cars "for the rigours of public transport". At the same time he is convinced a thoughtful approach to traffic management and control can make a difference.
"There has been a huge growth in this type of work in Ireland. Originally, we did most of our work abroad but in recent times we have not been applying for such contracts."
The unit now provides a wide range of consultancy services. Apart from advice in such areas as traffic-management, road safety and traffic-calming, it also undertakes research in areas such as the intelligent use of transport systems and environmental evaluations of transport proposals.
Dr O Cinneide adds that noise measurement and analysis are another growth area. "Noise pollution has emerged as one of the big environmental issues of the moment," he says. Thus, the team he heads has been involved in a wider spectrum of work than that for local authorities. It has, topically, been involved in noise measurement studies for the Army.
"We believe that we have a social role to play, so we advise residential groups working on the basis of accepting expenses but not charging a fee. That's why the unit has worked with groups like An Taisce as well as a number of community associations and the Kinsale Chamber of Commerce," he says.
Bishopstown is one the fastest-growing Cork suburbs and is an example of the unit's work. The community there consulted the unit on what might be done about the fact that the hub of the suburb is now almost a town in its own right, but lies in the path of a major new ring-road system.
The problem is that to reach the new road, commuters are feeding in through smaller suburban roads never intended for that purpose. "This is a good example of the unintended consequences of a scheme whose aim was to relieve traffic-congestion . . . Clearly, the demands on the services of the unit look set to grow over the coming years, with economic prosperity continuing to fill the car salesrooms and fuel demand for housing, in turn leading to urban sprawl and clogged highways," Dr O Cinneide says.
The unit has undertaken a review of services for Bus Eireann in Cork. This work was urgently needed, given that the city's bus network had not changed for 15 years. The review, which has been going on for the past two years, has echoed, without deriving from it, the basic conclusions of the recently announced British approach, which were produced much later than the UCC team's findings.
It also examined the "park and ride" system which was so successfully introduced to Cork last Christmas.
With car sales set to boom, according to industry sources, the work of the UCC unit, with new thinking by motorists, will be vital as we address a problem getting out of hand.