Sligo 2009 review

Gillie

Been thinking about what this year has brought for Sligo and where we are now...
Have things progressed enough or at all?
Are we likely to see problems in 2010 or will we be on the up?
In my opinion it seems that's it's mostly stayed the same in terms of development and progress. With a couple of exceptions of course!

The road at Ballydoogan which forms the 1/3 phase of the W2 Distributor route is complete. The signs are in place and the road goes nowhere at present. To my knowledge there is no money to build the rest of this road at present. I would have thought that this road is NOT a priority at present?
Surely getting an Eastern Bypass in place (granted the people of Dooley Park/Martin Savage were not happy with the proposed plans and that's their right) but surely not all was done to push that road forward instead of using valuable monies to build a couple of hundreds yards of roadway that goes nowhere...oh and destroys a wonderful park and amenity...oh and isn't actually that critical in the first place!
Leave the Eastern bypass to the side for a sec. What about Hughes Bridge?
Currently it causes a huge problem for traffic volumes from the north who go into two lanes at Cartron Cross only to be forced back into one lane at Hughes bridge then to discover they have FOUR possible routes to take!
Madness!
And then there is the little nugget that is O'Connell street. Now I for one didn't want it open again. I think that the powers that be failed us as they:
-Couldn't allocate/find/care about getting funds to make the street look attractive and the main street that Sligo deserves
-Jumped on the back of the bandwagon containing a few put out motorists who lobbied to have it open.
There are ways to get around Sligo very quickly. It doesn't have to be John Street!
I think a huge oppertunity was missed to give the centre of the town back to the shoppers.
Instead the road is run down, will probably have to be resurfaced and re-marked and we've been given no timeframe for when they would (if they ever will) close it again to traffic.

Parking is still a mess. Where is the multi story at connaughton road or Abbey street? I see the Niland building is going ahead and they are making huge progress. Is this more important than proper infastructure?

Carraroe. They need a Tesco up there. It's the only way to generate a sufficient footfall up there to maintain the current businesses and generate new ones. There is no excuse.
I remember seeing a quote from a councillor which was along the lines of:
"there are 4 empty units in Carraroe. There are 55 in the centre of Sligo Town"
The implication being that we should look after the Centre of town first.
Eh surely that should have been down when the new tenants were allowed move into Johnson's Court SC without worrying about vacating the old premises? Am just being silly?

Anyway while I take the point if Carraroe is to survive there needs to be a footfall generated.

In cleveragh I see a new coffee shop has opened and that's a positive step.
Mothercare, Smyths (only toy store in Sligo!), Argos, Rational Doors, Some Kitchen place. All going well I hope. Good to see.

In terms of jobs we lost Stiefel and there are cut backs at Abbott in Ballytivnan. Hopefully there won't be more coming up to Xmas.

All in all I think it's as you were!
I've scanned through the SEDP and there's a lot of promise with some wacky things thrown in (the Western City Bypass route would be comical if they weren't actually serious:eek:) but all these things cost money.

Anyway that's my two cents on the 1st day of the last month of 09.

Merry Christmas:D

Big_Mac

Gillie wrote: »

In terms of jobs we lost Stiefel and there are cut backs at Abbott in Ballytivnan. Hopefully there won't be more coming up to Xmas.

We got the boot down in Tiscali in Finisklin too. More job losses

Son Of A Vidic

Just when you thought Sligo's year couldn't get worse, Rovers lose the 'Cup'

blackiebest

Great post Gillie, spot on regarding all aspects IMO. We are a joke to allow all the sh1te that goes down in our town.

Gillie

blackiebest wrote: »

Great post Gillie, spot on regarding all aspects IMO. We are a joke to allow all the sh1te that goes down in our town.

It is my opinion that O'Connell street should have been left open and finished properly!

I'm sure there are many out there who think me wrong!

Again a missed oppertunity!

redarmyblues

Gilly, what is officialy proposed for the Riverside is not an Eastern Bypass it is a bridge and approach roads, that will run from Ballinode to Cranmore Road. The Co Manger does privately hope for it to form part a two lane East distributor road. Is it almost a certainty there will never be an Eastern Bypass.

Why do you find the western bypass comical, it makes perfect sense as it is planned to go through flat and open country for the most part. It would allow easy access to Strandhill and its airport, Finisklin and the docks area, Rosses point, FAS, The IT the N15/N16 etc. Seems like a good idea in terms of road planning, I spoke to a guy who was involved in doing the original quantities and he said it would be cheap enough to do in relative terms and the Civils he worked on the project with, were of the opinion that is was the best solution to local traffic issues. If roads are your bag then this is the one you want. I am not saying it should happen and I don't think it will happen anytime soon but it is not nonsensical, what are your objections? Mine would be that large investment in road infrastructure is short sighted due probable imminence of peak oil.

Gillie

redarmyblues wrote: »

Why do you find the western bypass comical, it makes perfect sense as it is planned to go through flat and open country for the most part. It would allow easy access to Strandhill and its airport, Finisklin and the docks area, Rosses point, FAS, The IT the N15/N16 etc. Seems like a good idea in terms of road planning, I spoke to a guy who was involved in doing the original quantities and he said it would be cheap enough to do in relative terms and the Civils he worked on the project with, were of the opinion that is was the best solution to local traffic issues. If roads are your bag then this is the one you want. I am not saying it should happen and I don't think it will happen anytime soon but it is not nonsensical, what are your objections? Mine would be that large investment in road infrastructure is short sighted due probable imminence of peak oil.

Have you actually seen where it goes once it gets to crossing the Strandhill road?
I don't know what they should do instead but building a bridge across the bay is not necessary! F*ck it why not Tunnel under the Inner Relief road!

On the first point. Whatever it's called it's vitally needed.

redarmyblues

Gillie wrote: »

Have you actually seen where it goes once it gets to crossing the Strandhill road?
I don't know what they should do instead but building a bridge across the bay is not necessary! F*ck it why not Tunnel under the Inner Relief road!

On the first point. Whatever it's called it's vitally needed.

Yes I have seen where it crosses Strandhill Road and.........

The proposal is not to bridge Sligo Bay rather it is to Bridge the Garavogue estuary or Sligo River as it was once known, but I do see your thinking an eastern bypass is required so a western bypass is not, you are prepared to build roads in other peoples backyards rather than have one in your own, whatever the requirements of reason.

Gillie wrote: »

it causes a huge problem for traffic volumes from the north who go into two lanes at Cartron Cross only to be forced back into one lane at Hughes bridge then to discover they have FOUR possible routes to take!
Madness

Madness, absolute madness and a consequence of the decision to build the mid block route rather than a western bypass. It is of course impossible (except to the ironist) to reconcile both these strands of thought in your post unless it is reduced to your perceived personal requirements, and is an example of the rampant individualism that blights this country as much as the empty jerry built housing estates and our dehumanised car centric transport infrastructure.

Gillie

redarmyblues wrote: »

Yes I have seen where it crosses Strandhill Road and.........

The proposal is not to bridge Sligo Bay rather it is to Bridge the Garavogue estuary or Sligo River as it was once known, but I do see your thinking an eastern bypass is required so a western bypass is not, you are prepared to build roads in other peoples backyards rather than have one in your own, whatever the requirements of reason.

But it's where they plan to bridge it. Will that not stop ships coming into the docks forever more?

When you say "you are prepared to build roads in other peoples backyards rather than have one in your own, whatever the requirements of reason"
are you referring to me? I don't live in Strandhill and this road would not affect me. It would affect the scenery in that area.
I am not one of these people who scream "not in my backyard". Believe me.
I believe in progress and love to see it. I just wondered about the route selection's merits.

Madness, absolute madness and a consequence of the decision to build the mid block route rather than a western bypass. It is of course impossible (except to the ironist) to reconcile both these strands of thought in your post unless it is reduced to your perceived personal requirements, and is an example of the rampant individualism that blights this country as much as the empty jerry built housing estates and our dehumanised car centric transport infrastructure.

Personal requirements aside to have four one lane become two become one become 4 in the space of a couple of hundred yards is nuts!

To be honest I started this post to see what other people thought in relation to Sligo's development in all areas in the last year.
I was giving my opinion on it but I would like to see how other people think Sligo has changed in the year.

You can dissect my post all you want. It's my opinion and i'm not going to change.
What do you see as important going forward in terms of development (not just roads).

Cheers

redarmyblues

^ There are are many harbours that have Bridges and nearly as many solutions to allow access for shipping. A Bridge built at the mouth of Sligo Harbour would allow land reclamation and perhaps encourage further activity in the area. The area now known as the docks is all reclaimed from the estuary. I do not think that the entrance to Sligo Harbour is a particularly scenic place and I think a bridge could actually enhance it if was properly designed. On the other hand the site for the Eastern Bridge is right in the jewel in the crown of the Sligo urban area. The walk along the riverside is an artful piece of landscaping built as part of the Hazelwood Estate, the bend in the river accentuated, an artificial Island carefully placed and planted with Scotch Pine to carefully frame the vista, the wide sweep of reed and wood fringed river in the foreground and the delightful Dartry Hills in the background. The walk further on in Doorly Park is of course through the Sally Gardens of Yeats and an important cultural reference. I brought a friend from Dublin to walk it and he was amazed that any Irish town was possessed of such an unsung gem.

I listed the merits of a western bypass in a previous post, the other demerits of the Eastern road include the loss of the Racecourse and a large section of Cairns Hill close to the Cairns, the road is also wrongly positioned from a traffic management point of view as it is intended to pump an extra 20,000 cars a day into an already busy Ballinode Cross as well as inconvenience to the residents of Ballinode, Abbeyquarter South, and Cairns/Tonnaphubble from traffic. I am not saying build a western bypass, I am saying a Western works better than an Eastern road.

My point was that the reason you have those issues with Hughes Bridge etc is they were caused by having an MBR instead of a Western Road.

When it comes to the future of Sligo all I have to offer is despair.

totomcgrath

I commend Gillie for his 2009 summary, all very well put. I agree in the most part though with redarmyblues about the validity of a western bridge route (as long as they dont have that silly dead end and go ahead with the plan proper. But I have one point re eastern bridge & route: If I'm not mistaken the proposed location of the eastern bridge was well to the town side of the Doorly Park scenic walk, so I believe that the scenic beauty of the main Doorly Park walk would be greatly unaffected by an Eastern Bridge - plus that Bridge could open up a whole new scenic promenade on the other side of the river, currently inaccessible for scenic walks. IMO the pluses of eastern bridge outweigh the minuses.

Regarding the route through the racecourse thats another matter, I live close to it and sometimes walk there. However does the small number of race meetings a year justify its presence in such a key location? It would sadden me to see it go, but it also saddened me when they built Cranmore in the field I used to play football in as a kid. Sacrifices always have to be made in urban progress, otherwise the place just stands still. Could they not run the road along one side of the racecourse - either skirting the top of Cranmore, or along the back avenue, and still hold on to the racecourse?

Doorly Park residents have great concerns of course, and I sympathise greatly as its always been a beautiful quiet haven of a place to live up to now. The only problem for residents there is getting across to the other side of town. O'Connell Street reopened I dont think is any solution, its still a meandering long haul around a one way system, albeit a little bit shorter than john st/adelaide st.
If I could add one other pont to the 2009 review, ie the debacle between our citys borough council and the county manager on a number of fronts (every front?) and the constant strife between the chamber of commerce and many councillors is combining to really hold this city back. For a population the size of county sligo it seems to me we are totally over represented politically. I think if the government are looking to economise they should look at abolishing Borough Councils altogether for cities under 50,000 population, and let CoCos administer instead. It seems to me to be a terrible beauracratic waste of money. The main problem I see with a Borough Council is that small vested interests are being represented by councillors, who may have gleaned but a couple of hundred votes. As a result of all these small vested interests, tough decisions, in the interest of the city as a whole, rarely get made. Progress is consequently at a snails pace. Not that i want to be seen as agreeing with Fianna Fail who have gotten the country into such a mess lately, but when I read that they are looking at reviewing local government structures, I am getting hopeful of progress towards a less beauracratic system.