On the road to nowhere: City bus routes in the spotlight

LIMERICK city’s senior transport official declared yesterday that he is determined to see an end to dedicated bus lanes which go nowhere.

Pat Dromey, director of transport services with Limerick City Council, said the current situation cannot continue whereby bus lanes are being put in place in the suburbs by Limerick County Council only for city councillors to block them in the city.

For the past three years Limerick County Council, in response to the Government’s policy Transport 21, has provided two bus lanes on the main transport arteries in the suburban areas at a cost of €4.5 million. The county authority has allocated a further €5m for bus lanes.

However, councillors on Limerick City Council have resisted the continuation of these dedicated bus corridors into the city centre.

This has led to the bus lanes coming to a dead end at the city/county boundary.

The bus lanes are 100% funded by the Government.

Councillors in the city have continually put a block on the bus lane network being rolled into the city centre, citing concerns of residents about parking. But the city councillors’ resistance is now coming to a head.

Mr Dromey said yesterday: “Bus lanes are the only game in town. We are determined to kick on with the bus lanes. It is part of the city development plan and the city centre strategy.”

Limerick city, he said, has fallen behind Dublin, Cork and Limerick County Council in the provision of dedicated bus lanes. It is their intention to commence work on two dedicated bus lanes in the city by next summer.

Mr Dromey said fears had been expressed that residents along the proposed bus routes would be unable to park, but a report commissioned by the council had clearly shown that this could not be the case.

There would be plenty of parking capacity for residents, he said.

It is believed that officials in city hall have told councillors privately that if they persist with a refusal to accept bus routes, the management will press ahead with or without the approval of the politicians.

Bus Éireann said its schedule times in the suburbs have improved dramatically since the introduction of bus lanes by Limerick County Council.

Up to 12 minutes have been knocked off bus travel time on the Raheen/Dooradoyle route since the opening of the 1.5-mile bus lane through those suburbs.

Inconsistency in bus times due to traffic congestion has seen bus passenger numbers drop from four million to three million over the past 20 years.

Paul Crowe, director of transport services with Limerick County Council, said they have completed three bus routes on major access roads into the city.

They are planning to embark on a further extension of a bus lane at Castletroy, extending it to the roundabout at Finnegans Pub.