Plan for new bus lane on Cork's Anglesea Street approved despite loss of 14 parking spaces

Cork City Council has approved a contraflow bus lane on Anglesea Street, despite opposition over parking space removal concerns

Cork City councillors voted 25-3 in favour of the scheme along a section of Anglesea Street, from South Terrace to Old Station Road. File picture: Larry Cummins

Plans for a new contraflow bus lane through one of Cork's busiest streets have been approved despite opposition about the removal of parking spaces.

City councillors voted 25-3 in favour of the scheme along a section of Anglesea Street, from South Terrace to Old Station Road, at the March meeting of city council on Monday after Independent Cllr Paudie Dineen insisted it could be done better and cheaper without affecting anyone.

The vote overwhelmingly in favour came after Green Party Cllr Oliver Moran warned that several more decisions like this are required across the city over the coming months to deliver a reliable bus service for the city.

The comments were made during a debate on a report on the Section 38 proposal to introduce a northbound contraflow bus lane on Anglesea Street between South Terrace and Old Station Road. 

The scheme includes the realignment of some traffic lanes and junctions in the area and the removal of a right turn lane on Copley Street.

It will involve the removal of 14 public parking spaces on Anglesea Street – nine from the western side and five from the eastern side between Old Station Road and Anglesea Terrace - and the relocation of some loading bays.

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Officials said the bus lane will help deliver routes proposed under the city’s redesigned bus network and will be used by up to 22 buses an hour during weekday peak services, with the same number travelling outbound in the existing traffic lanes.

But Mr Dineen urged engineers to go back to the drawing board.

“The bus lane in its current format will only serve to get buses nowhere faster because there is no other bus lane for the buses to use after the junction with Copley Street, where they will merge with all other traffic,” he said.

Residential parking in this area is already at a premium, he said, warning that the loss of parking spaces for this bus lane will push parking into other residential areas “causing friction and unrest”.

“We as city fathers must find a better way. We must go back to the drawing board. It’s our duty to do so. We have a duty to deliver for our constituents. We do not have a duty to deliver for the National Transport Authority (NTA).” 

Fine Gael Cllr Shane O’Callaghan said the plan was backed by five of the six local ward councillors.

“We need a proper bus service and the reason why a lot of people don’t get the bus is because at the moment it’s not reliable. 

If you have a bus service that comes on time and gets you to your destination on time, then a lot more people are going to use it, which will result in a lot less cars on the road. 

"What the NTA and infrastructure directorate in Cork City Council is trying to do is create a proper bus service for this city,” he said.

Mr Moran said councillors have an obligation to the passengers who took the 16.5 million passenger journeys on buses in Cork last year.

“Our responsibility is to deliver a road network within the city that can properly transport those people on time. This is just one minor proposal to do so, but we have to do proposals like this across the city,” he said.