Ryan admits 'battle' ahead to ensure Cork bus lane plan succeeds 

The Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD in Cork city centre today as the NTA unveiled a €600m investment in BusConnects Cork which will include the creation of twelve Sustainable Transport Corridors (STC) to help meet the needs of a growing city. Picture: Darragh Kane

The €600m BusConnects plan for Cork, which involves 75km of bus lanes and 54km of cycling and walking infrastructure, will involve difficult decisions requiring "political will" from local authorities to get over the line.

That is according to Environment and Transport Minister, Eamon Ryan, who was in Cork to unveil the scheme along with National Transport Authority (NTA) and Cork City Council leaders.

Some 12 proposed "corridors" were unveiled, including Mayfield, Blackpool, Hollyhill, Sunday's Well, and Dunkettle on the city's northside into the city centre; Bishopstown, Togher, Airport Road, Maryborough Hill, Mahon, Kinsale Road, and Douglas to the city centre; and recently acquired city council territory, Ballincollig, to the city centre.

NTA chief executive Anne Graham conceded that due to a lack of unused space along some of Cork's busiest roads, it would not be possible to accommodate bus and cycle lanes without taking chunks of gardens from homes and space in front of commercial buildings.

That is known as a compulsory purchase order (CPO), where statutory bodies can take land or property without the consent of the owner, but provide compensation for doing so, as well as redesign, landscaping, and replanting costs. 

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A more detailed set of proposals will be published for an initial public consultation during June, which will include extensive public engagement and allow people to provide their feedback, the NTA said.

A series of community forums will be established for each corridor as plans develop, it added.

Mr Ryan said that the proposal, along with the envisaged light rail link and suburban rail networks, would be transformative for Cork as it grows over the next 20 years.

However, getting there may involve a "battle" along the way, with political will needed from local councils to get such transformative projects over the line.

"It’s not going to be the role of any minister to say "do exactly this on exactly this road". It does have to come from the bottom up. It does require local authorities to buy into this vision of creating a town and city centre, an urban and suburban environment that has high-quality public transport and pathways and cycling infrastructure. 

"That can’t be forced. If Cork comes back and says this is too difficult, we can’t do anything, it can’t be forced, the budget will go elsewhere, to councils that are willing to make the difficult decisions. We have to support those who are willing to do so."

Chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, said her organisation was more than willing to meet the challenge, and that while the expression "game-changer" was used liberally at times, it was appropriate for such a plan.

Other parts of the plan include redesigning Cork city's bus route network, work on which is ongoing, transitioning to a zero-emissions bus fleet, new bus livery and the introduction of a modern ticketing system. Pic; Larry Cummins

Other key parts of the plan include redesigning the city's bus route network, work on which is ongoing, transitioning to a zero-emissions bus fleet, new bus livery and the introduction of a modern ticketing system.

Growing city

The NTA said the routes are fundamental to the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS), which aims to increase the number of people using public transport in Cork fourfold by 2040 and expand cycling and walking by 33%.

Mr Ryan said that lots of elements of the plan could be incorporated without the need for CPOs, but that it would involve taking existing infrastructure such as roads and repurposing them.

"I do think a lot of the measures we can introduce as a matter of priority can be done without going down the CPO, land acquisition, front gardens being taken out, because that does present real difficulties. What I would like to see is experimental measures such as road reallocation to give real priority to public transport and make it a safe local environment, to get to school or work or college. That’s possible without running into battles," he said.