Proposal to bar cars from city’s main street
If adopted, it would see the bulk of traffic directed away from the zone between North Main St and the Custom House.
The report before Cork City Council seeks to stop people using the main shopping streets as rat-runs, while at the same time making it easier to drive to and from the area.
Cyclists would benefit from priority lanes along routes designed to connect the city, from the docklands to Kent Station.
Under the proposed scheme, access to the main shopping thoroughfare, St Patrick’s Street, would be limited to buses, taxis, and cyclists. The current right of cars to edge along the road would be taken away, in favour of more fluid systems flowing around the quays.
MacCurtain St would become a two-way street, but pedestrians would have priority and motorists would be discouraged from using it as a through route.
Wider loading bays would be incorporated in this area in order to improve the shopping experience.
Grenville Place, skirting around the Mercy Hospital, would be a one-way eastbound route, with return traffic using Grattan St.
Parnell Place, which currently serves as a south--north channel through the city, would be cut off for other road users to give a safer option for pedestrians and cyclists.
Part of this plan is to improve the link between the bus station and the rest of the city centre.
The main road routes around the city centre would change slightly, with the aim of keeping as many cars as possible away from the shopping streets, while trying to reduce traffic jams.
Brian Boru St and the bridge it leads onto would change from the current one-way road to two-way.
The plan is scheduled to be discussed by Cork City Council on Monday and the council is engaging with the public and stakeholders with a vested interest in how the area is managed.
According to a presentation on the plan, a final draft should be in place in early 2013. If it goes ahead, the plan would begin with St Patrick’s St, before moving to the streets around the Mercy Hospital.
