Central Access Scheme and One-Way High St. Part II: Concrete Waffle

Captain Havoc

According to today's Advertiser, it's got planning permission and construction will start in about a year with completion late 2013 - early 2014 (stop sniggering, you).

Earlier short thread here, with super-advanced computer generated video.

Kilkenny Advertiser wrote:

Green light for central access scheme and new bridge crossing

Kilkenny Advertiser, December 16, 2011.
by Naoise Coogan
Kilkenny has been offered a resolution to some of the traffic problems that have been plaguing the city over recent years, following a decision by An Bord Pleanala this week to grant approval for a central access scheme and new bridge crossing.
The decision has been welcomed with open arms by all but one member of the local authorities and the executive.
A new, low-impact, bridge design was developed by the local authorities for the scheme, which involves a new access road through the current Diageo brewery site, traversing the Nore and linking with the Mart site and the Castlecomer Road. The new scheme will consist of an urban street approximately 700 metres in length which will link St Canice’s Place to the Castlecomer Road. The altered scheme was required to take into consideration the redevelopment of the mart site which ran into problems due to lack of access and other traffic management difficulties, which are each addressed in the altered scheme.
County manager Joe Crockett said it was a good decision for Kilkenny city as the new scheme would ‘consolidate the city centre’.
“This will be good news for High Street, John Street, and also the mart site,” said Mr Crockett.
“The bridges we have are inadequate and we believe that the CAS will improve interconnectivity, road safety, and will not adversely affect the integrity of the city. The new bridge will be designed to enhance the core of the city centre and of course will also improve access to the mart site and surrounding areas.
“There is currently heavy congestion on Green’s Bridge and John’s Bridge on a daily basis. And Green’s Bridge will simply be unable to cope with the heavy goods vehicles into the future. There will be a cost benefit to the people of Kilkenny if the new road and bridge go ahead in terms of road safety, Co2 levels, and financial return too,” explained Mr Crockett.
However not everyone feels so positive about the prospect of the new route.
Green Party environment spokesperson, Malcolm Noonan, in a statement to the Kilkenny Advertiser said that the central access scheme in Kilkenny will destroy the city’s medieval core.

Kilkenny Advertiser wrote:

Bridge over troubled waters — third river crossing set for city

Kilkenny Advertiser, December 16, 2011.
It has been called many things — the inner relief road, the central access scheme, Kilkenny’s third river crossing — but whatever it is named, it is now imminent.
Welcome or not, Kilkenny is to have a modern river crossing that will deal with the traffic management issues that afflict Green’s Bridge and John’s Bridge every day.
Is this good news? It depends on your perspective.
From a traffic management point of view, this is indeed good news. For anyone who travels into Kilkenny city for work in the early mornings, this sounds like good news because currently there is no way to avoid the traffic jams over Green’s Bridge, John’s Bridge, or the Castle Road. If you begin work between 8.30am and 9.30am in the city centre, you cannot avoid the bumper to bumper traffic and it is frustrating for motorists and clogs up the city for pedestrians and cyclists too.
A refuse truck stops outside the Rivercourt Hotel at the foot of John’s Bridge twice a week between eight and nine and traffic cannot pass for at least 10 minutes while the collectors walk into the premises, collect the bins and empty them. All the time the traffic builds up on John Street...
So there are definitely pros and cons to the news that the new bridge and road have been given the go-ahead.
Green’s Bridge is hardly able to manage the traffic, which is forced to become one-way if a HGV needs to cross and although the ringroad takes a lot of the heavy traffic, this is the only viable route for brewery traffic or traffic that needs to traverse from the Freshford Road to the Castlecomer Road.
So alleviating these traffic problems will be part of the pros of the new route.
However, the cons have more to do with the medieval aspect of Kilkenny city. Many involved in the maintenance of our cultural heritage in the city are very much opposed to the contemporary structure which they believe will split the city in two and detrimentally harm the medieval fabric of our history.
Malcolm Noonan is the only member of the council vehemently opposing the project but he is adamant that it is not in the best interests of the city’s heritage.
It is a difficult argument with two very relevant points. Do you move with the times and try and make access to the city easier for people, therefore maintaining our High Street trade and linking it with suburban shopping centres? Or do you try and maintain the unique heritage that we are so lucky to still have in the Marble City and that others envy? We live in a stunningly beautiful city because we have managed to juxtapose old and new so well to date. Economically we would have nothing without it, as tourism is our biggest selling point and it is statistically proven that people come to Kilkenny for cultural and heritage reasons more than any other.
So what is the answer? I think that maybe we need to continue doing what we have done to date — that is to continue with sympathetic modernisation of the city while maintaining the historical fabric that we have all learned to live happily within. Don’t change what is not entirely necessary but make things modern enough so that people won’t shop elsewhere during these difficult times. We have to have an accessible convenient city in order to entice people to our excellent businesses and services and if that means a little bit of modernisation — so be it.
It has to be better to have a city that is alive and booming rather than a pretty, historical, city but with nobody able to make a living, which will ultimately result in the demise of the local economy.

I agree with Malcolm Noonan that the ring road would have been the way forward but I can't agree that'll take away our medievelness and split the city in two.

Oh, I also predict this won't happen in my life-time, (caution pun alert) as it's a bridge too far. No really, it won't happen in my life-time.

PhilipMarlowe

If it ever did get built, then one thing is for sure... there would be no lads having a few cans under it in the peace park. Ever.

HGVs on Green's Bridge? Finish the ring road so and ideally move the 'industrial' element of the brewery out of that site and keep the historical & tourist element there allowing future development of that river bank.

I wonder what are the relative costs comparisons between the ring road completion and this pointless inner road? Also, I wonder how many of the lime trees on the comer road beside the barracks will be removed to link to this proposed new road.
Anyway, all pie in the sky.

fabbydabby

I don't know about roads promising inner ring relief but I personally can't wait for Citimart to be completed.

I am going to get myself an attractive twentysomething partner and have regular candid laughing snapshot moments over bowls of pasta and red wine in my one bedroom apartment, as the hoarding suggests.

It's going to be amazing.

Captain Havoc

As I go further in, another one of our old favourites is in there:

Kilkenny Advertiser wrote:

Kilkenny prepares for a one way system on High Street

Kilkenny Advertiser, December 16, 2011.
By Sam Matthews
High Street is set to become a one-way route by 2014, following a planned €1.6 million overhaul of the road and pavements running through Kilkenny’s historic Hightown.
The revamp aims to extend the ‘public realm experience of the Parade Project’ into High Street and Parliament Street.
The project will be implemented in two phases – the first involving renovation to six separate parts of the street, which is to go ahead next year. The second phase is ‘footpath widening’, which will be undertaken in 2014, after the new bridge is constructed under the Central Access Scheme. At this point, the one-way system will come into effect.
A report detailing the works, which include re-paving and re-texturing of footpaths and replacement of street lighting, was given to borough council members at this week’s meeting.
“The medieval streets of central Kilkenny are narrow with narrow traffic carriageways and narrow footpaths and there can be a sense of domination by traffic together with inadequate standards of footpaths giving rise to a poor tourist experience,” the report finds.
The overhaul of High Street is part of the ‘Medieval Mile’ project, which represents an investment of €8.5 million for the city, some of which it is hoped will be supplied by Failte Ireland. The project consists of four new major tourism attractions in Kilkenny, to develop the city’s ‘spine’ – between Kilkenny Castle and St Canice’s Cathedral.
The other works include the refurbishment of St Mary’s Church, a new facility for the Butler Gallery, as well as renovations at the Kilkenny Design Centre Complex.
St Mary’s Church and graveyard will be refurbished and developed to museum standard, with an exhibition facility to house heritage and historic collections. The project has the support of the National Museum.
The Butler Gallery’s new facility will house an important collection of Irish and international works dating from the 1800s, and strengthen the gallery’s ability to provide outreach services to develop the arts.
Meanwhile, the Design Centre Complex will benefit from improvements made to its open spaces in order to strenghten visitor appeal.
The Medieval Mile is the area between Kilkenny Castle and St Canice’s Cathedral – encompassing Irishtown, Parliament Street, High Street and the Parade, and the various attractions and buildings along this route. The objective of the planned works is to create new infrastructure to build on Kilkenny’s heritage and cultural appeal, and to draw and maintain more visitors to the city.

foxcoverteddy

Dear Captain Havoc and other believer's.
There are no options that satisfy both camps.
Either we keep Kilkenny as the jewel in the crown of the south east. Name anywhere that has retained so much history. We are unique.
We have fools who probably couldn't manage to run the brewery let alone our city.
We do not want traffic access to the centre, do we? We want a proper ring road which is about ten years too late.
Okay build the mart, but not in the ultra modern style that will look dated within five years, and find another way in.
Why bring traffic to green's bridge put your crossing further up stream and build your ring to get traffic round the city.
As for the nonsense about the rubbish truck blocking john st, collect your rubbish before 7am or after 7pm, who runs the city?
For goodness sake go to Brugge in Belgium and see how they have combined the two cultures, we probably have more to offer than they had.
Someone allowed An Post to build in the high St, what an eyesore of a building.
Suppose we might try for a LUAS style tram?
Merry Christmas

hi5

If you want to see how to preserve an old town/city and still move with the times just go to any city in Switzerland.
Bern for example,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_City_of_Bern
Or Biel.
http://wikimapia.org/3979980/Biel-Bienne-old-town

foxcoverteddy

dear hi5.
Thanks for the reply, yes looking at Bern courtesey of Google it sure does look impressive. We have idiots in power who are going to rob, yes rob future generations of their cultural heritage.
We need some action co-ordination to stop these people.
Protect our city. Thank you and obviously you are someone who cares.

Captain Havoc

I've lived twice in Switzerland and have to agree there, they generally tend to keep an oldtown which are well preserved and let the rest grow up (not out) around it. Geneva and Zürich would be another couple of good examples. A lot of French towns do the same.

Einhard

I'm not quite sure how building this road and bridge is an act of cultural vandalism. What exactly is being vandalised? If we are to believe, as Noonan wants, that it will tear the city in two, then we have to believe that Dean St does that too.

domkk

just extend the half ring road to freshford road for now with a new bridge over the nore. It'll stop most of the traffic entering kk to cross greens bridge to head back out the comer rd.

Lord ButterSlip

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I agree with Malcolm Noonan that the ring road would have been the way forward but I can't agree that'll take away our medievelness and split the city in two.

Oh, I also predict this won't happen in my life-time, (caution pun alert) as it's a bridge too far. No really, it won't happen in my life-time.

I agree with Malcolm too but as far as i can see (the animated bit and the pictures in the advertiser) it really isnt a slimline design! I dont think there is a need for acres of footpath on either side, also the roadway itself is too big.... The Ring Road upstream bridge is the way to go. If traffic can cross from Aut Even to the Comer road a tiny amount of people will need to go straight through, and they can use Greens bridge and Johns bridge.

foxcoverteddy

It would appear Joe is good at the waffle, come down from the ivory tower and think commonsense. Happy New Year