Battle lines drawn over controversial bus lanes

BATTLE lines are being drawn in Limerick by residents and the city council over the controversial extension of bus lanes into the city centre from the south side of the city.

Limerick County Council have already developed bus lanes from Raheen to Dooradoyle.

However, these bus lanes terminate at the city boundary near the Crescent Shopping Centre.

The O’Connell Avenue and Ballinacurra Residents Association, opposed to bus lanes, has now embarked on a house-by-house survey to back up its position.

There are more than 350 homes in the area.

The association claims the development of bus lanes will affect the quality of life of residents and they are calling on local people to back a petition.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has already pledged €2.4 million to develop a bus lane through O’Connell Avenue and Ballinacurra to connect with the lanes already developed on the county side of the boundary by Limerick County Council.

Government policy promotes the development of urban bus lanes to encourage people to use public transport services.

The last city council voted against a proposal to develop a bus lane in Ballinacurra and O’Connell Avenue in 2008. They claimed bus lanes would close off car parking spaces for residents and impact on safety.

Limerick City Council management are also embarking on a strategy of meeting residents and getting engineers to assess the impact of a bus lane.

The residents’ association has called on locals to play an active part in their campaign. A spokesperson said: “If this bus lane goes ahead, it will have a big impact on O’Connell Avenue. The last bus lane was to be inward from Ballinacurra to Mallow Street, but we have no guarantee that this new proposal will not be in the other direction or both.

“This will impact on the quality of life in the area.”

Meanwhile, people who support an extension of the bus route, point to a disjointed approach to traffic management in the city and the county suburbs as another reason for a single, larger, council to administer the city and its environs.