Location of park-and-ride facility to be changed

PLANS for a major park-and-ride facility for rail commuters are to go before Cork County Council members for approval on October 17.

Iarnród Éireann originally decided that it wouldn’t open a station in north Esk, near Dunkettle, preferring one in Tivoli as part of its overall plan to reinstate the Cork-Midleton rail link.

However, years of lobbying by people living in the Glanmire area is set to reap rewards with the development of a 2.45 acre site at Dunkettle, which would be able to hold up to 800 vehicles.

The proposal has been drawn up by consultants who feel it is the best option to encourage more people to use the train.

The park-and-ride facility — which is set to become operational in conjunction with the reopening of the commuter rail line in 2008 — will also benefit motorists coming in from North and East Cork, who prefer to leave their cars on the outskirts of the city and thus avoid parking charges.

It will be connected to the Cork-Dublin road (N8) by a sliproad and by the existing access roads into Dunkettle/North Esk.

Four alternative sites were considered. These included one slightly west of the River Glashaboy, which is used as a vehicle storage depot by the Port of Cork and another at the Iarnród Éireann container depot.

But it has been decided that the one at Dunkettle, which is slightly west of the Ibis Hotel, is the best option. Among a number of positive reasons was that the land in question is relatively low-lying and the park-and-ride wouldn’t be obtrusive.

Councillors will have to vote to amend the County Development Plan so the project can go ahead. It is unlikely there will be any major objection from any of the 48 public representatives on the local authority.

Cllr John Gilroy, who a few years ago was part of a team from Glanmire Area Community Association, which lobbied for a station and park-and-ride at Dunkettle/North Esk said yesterday he was very pleased with the news.

He said it would be of great benefit to workers from Glanmire, one of Cork’s biggest suburbs.

“There will be a half-hourly peak-time service from the Dunkettle station which will mean that people from Glanmire will be able to use the park-and-ride and take the train to either Cork City, Carrigtwohill, Cobh or Midleton, where a lot of them work already. It will take a lot of people off the roads,” Cllr Gilroy said.