Concerns afternoon bus lane rules being flouted on St Patrick Street in Cork

Cork’s city bosses are facing calls for a full review of traffic management on the city’s main street amid concerns that its afternoon bus lane rules are being flouted.

They have been asked to supply details about compliance and enforcement measures linked to the St Patrick’s St time-regulated bus lanes, as well as data on footfall trends on the city’s main retail street over recent months.

Labour Cllr John Maher confirmed that he has tabled the questions to the council chief executive for response at next Monday’s city council meeting.

Mr Maher requested the information after observing dozens of motorists in private cars last weekend ignoring the time-regulated bus lanes on St Patrick’s St which operate 3pm to 6.30pm seven days a week since their reintroduction just over 14 months ago.

He said it wasn’t just one or two motorists - its abuse was widespread and wholesale.

“I saw it happening over the jazz bank holiday weekend and I gave those motorists the benefit of the doubt and figured it may have been visitors to the city,” he said.

“But what I observed last Sunday was madness. Dozens of motorists were driving up and down the street when it is supposed to be bus priority.

“It’s a free for all now. It seems everyone has taken their eye off the ball on this. And I began to wonder ‘what’s the point of it now?’

“We need to enforce this to ensure that it can achieve what it was designed to achieve."

He has been backed by FF Cllr Ken O'Flynn, who has always opposed the traffic management measure.

"The time has finally come for this to be scrapped," he said.

The traffic management measure, a key part of the wider City Centre Movement Strategy (CCMS), was first introduced in March 2018.

The initiative, dubbed the Pana Ban, was designed to give priority to the near 1,000 daily bus movements on the street.

But it faced opposition from the outset. The council said it needed time to bed in and it introduced parking incentives in a bid to ease trader concerns.

Bus Éireann said the measure was working with bus journey times on two key suburban routes which use St Patrick’s St reducing — in one case by almost 30%.

But the chorus of opposition mounted, with business owners claiming the car ban had created a “ghost town” and decimated afternoon trade.

As pressure grew, almost 200 angry traders attended a meeting, organised by Cork Business Association (CBA) in mid-April, demanding the car ban be abandoned. Some threatened a rates strike.

A special council meeting was called and on April 20, 2018, city councillors voted to suspend the Pana Ban until August pending consultation.

Crucially though, they reaffirmed their support for the overall thrust of the CCMS.

The Pana Ban was reintroduced in August 2018 with a suite of supporting measures, including parking deals, an extended park-and-ride service, and a city centre marketing campaign.

But enforcement has always been an issue, with City Hall insisting that that’s a matter for the gardaí.

In September, garda figures showed that fines had been issued to motorists for flouting the private car ban on St Patrick's St.

The motorists were issued with €160 fines.