Limerick improvement projects

Mc Love

Silentcorner wrote: »

I wish to god they would stop this plan, they are pedestrianising the wrong street...the street will be dead after 6 pm just like it is now...they will always be offices and nothing but offices.

Catherine St has way more potential, much less impact on traffic, with a lot of trees up through the centre, it could become one of the finest urban living streets in the country, full of locally owned businesses from bars to butchers, cafes and little restaurants, it is a long street, and there are a lot of buildings that could be torn down, O'Connell St can't be touched.

They're not pedestrianizing it...yet!

On cycling - this is interesting:
it will accommodate with minimal amendments a two-way dedicated public transport corridor with segregated cycleways if required under the Limerick Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy.

Lets hope the LMATS suggests segregated cycleways, there is the space for them.

The application also states:
Due to the existing one-way system within the city centre, and the limited cycle network, it was not proposed to include cycle lanes on Phase 1 of the O'Connell Street Revitalisation as it would not provide additional cyclist connections over the relatively short length of the scheme,

The removal of kerbside activities such as loading and parking will also improve visibility between pedestrians and drivers, and reduce risks for cyclists travelling along the street and pedestrians crossing the street from between parked vehicles

I think the removal of parking will do wonders for the street and congestion in the city.

TPMP

So if they're reducing O'Connell St. to one lane (and a bus lane), where is all the traffic supposed to go? Is there an alternative route that is being designed?

source

TPMP wrote: »

So if they're reducing O'Connell St. to one lane (and a bus lane), where is all the traffic supposed to go? Is there an alternative route that is being designed?

The only relief road designed for that purpose is the Northern Distributor Road which would link Coonagh with the Mackey Roundabout. But there's a good bit of opposition to it.

Jimbob1977

I hope it doesn't end up like William Street or Parnell Street.

"I need to go into Brown Thomas for 5 minutes. Ah shure I'll just park in the bus lane for a while. There's nobody checking".

TPMP

source wrote: »

The only relief road designed for that purpose is the Northern Distributor Road which would link Coonagh with the Mackey Roundabout. But there's a good bit of opposition to it.

Quite simply that is a horrendous piece of planning. The town will be gridlock.

johnnyryan89

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

I hope it doesn't end up like William Street or Parnell Street.

"I need to go into Brown Thomas for 5 minutes. Ah shure I'll just park in the bus lane for a while. There's nobody checking".

Still happens on Wickham St. Passing through there yesterday morning and this woman decides to just stop outside the second hand shop and throws the hazards on. Had to go into the cycle lane to get around her.

Mc Love

TPMP wrote: »

Quite simply that is a horrendous piece of planning. The town will be gridlock.

Or people will shift their mode of transport to something more sustainable or quicker.

TPMP

Mc Love wrote: »

Or people will shift their mode of transport to something more sustainable or quicker.

Not going to happen unless there's a drastic improvement in public transport services. And I'm not just talking about the city, I'm also talking about commuters from outside of Limerick. Cutting a lane from the busiest thoroughfare without any alternative is destined to fail.

Mc Love

TPMP wrote: »

Not going to happen unless there's a drastic improvement in public transport services. And I'm not just talking about the city, I'm also talking about commuters from outside of Limerick. Cutting a lane from the busiest thoroughfare without any alternative is destined to fail.

But there alternatives, and when people realise that instead of being stuck and contribuing to the congestion they'll change.

TPMP

Mc Love wrote: »

But there alternatives, and when people realise that instead of being stuck and contribuing to the congestion they'll change.

There are SOME alternatives depending on where you live, but even those aren't very dependable or punctual. Is there even a single park and ride system in the whole of Limerick? I assume you are a daily user of public transport yourself and have no concerns or issues?

Mc Love

TPMP wrote: »

There are SOME alternatives depending on where you live, but even those aren't very dependable or punctual. Is there even a single park and ride system in the whole of Limerick? I assume you are a daily user of public transport yourself and have no concerns or issues?

Anyone within 8km of the city center should be travelling by alternative means where possible imo. I cycle but I do use the bus regularly enough too. My closest bus stop is 17 min walk however I drive to my parents and get the bus from a stop literally across the road but in most circumstances I cycle and it isnt safe at the moment to cycle and cycling is an after thought when it comes to cycle infrastructure in the city.

Phileas Frog

Mc Love wrote: »

But there alternatives, and when people realise that instead of being stuck and contribuing to the congestion they'll change.

No they won't.

Jimbob1977

Would a single-line tram be justifiable for Limerick?

Annacotty-Castletroy-UL-Parkway-Clare Street-O'Connell Street-O'Connell Avenue-Crescent-Raheen.

Insect Overlord

Phileas Frog wrote: »

No they won't.

Quality contribution. :rolleyes:

Have you ever even had a go at cycling on your commute to work?

Phileas Frog

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Quality contribution. :rolleyes:

Have you ever even had a go at cycling on your commute to work?

It doesn't go anywhere near the city

limez

Admittedly only lived in Limerick for 12 months, but I don't understand why anyone drives down O'Connell St. If I need to go into town, I'd bus, bike or park in either Charlotte's Quay or Anne St. It's already so slow as to be largely pointless, so I just consider that it is already closed.

TPMP

limez wrote: »

Admittedly only lived in Limerick for 12 months, but I don't understand why anyone drives down O'Connell St. If I need to go into town, I'd bus, bike or park in either Charlotte's Quay or Anne St. It's already so slow as to be largely pointless, so I just consider that it is already closed.

What about everyone that needs to use the Shannon bridge, Dock road, O'Connell Avenue etc? Massive volumes of traffic have no other choice but to use O'Connell St.

keane2097

Did we ever figure out what's going on alongside Woodies on the Ennis Road?

source

limez wrote: »

Admittedly only lived in Limerick for 12 months, but I don't understand why anyone drives down O'Connell St. If I need to go into town, I'd bus, bike or park in either Charlotte's Quay or Anne St. It's already so slow as to be largely pointless, so I just consider that it is already closed.

I live on South Circular Road, my kids go to swimming lessons in Corbally, the only realistic route for me to bring them home is O'Connell St. Any other route takes me on a completely circuitous journey that makes no sense.

Taking the bus would require a change in town and hoping that both busses are on time and I can't cycle them across town because of their age. So I'm left with the car and O'Connell St.

sioda

keane2097 wrote: »

Did we ever figure out what's going on alongside Woodies on the Ennis Road?

KFC

limez

TPMP wrote: »

What about everyone that needs to use the Shannon bridge, Dock road, O'Connell Avenue etc? Massive volumes of traffic have no other choice but to use O'Connell St.

As a non local I use Google maps or Waze, and O'Connell St is never a fast way to those places.

TPMP

limez wrote: »

As a non local I use Google maps or Waze, and O'Connell St is never a fast way to those places.

So going from the city centre, how would somebody get to, say, the northside of Limerick without using O'Connell St that's quicker?

I personally work in town and commute to Clare. If I didn't take O'Connell St it would add a silly amount of time to my journey so I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions.

Vanquished

Got to love the sense of entitlement. Apparently the primary function of O'Connell Street is to facilitate motorists individual car commutes.

The reality is O'Connell Street needs to be utilised in the best interests of Limerick city and not selfish individual desires. The street has offered unrestricted access to cars for too long and yet the street has declined significantly in that period. The routine and systematic abuse of road traffic laws by ignorant, stupid and selfish drivers is a major issue also. It's time to go a different way.

keane2097

Personally, as someone who also lives in the city centre and commutes to Clare by car, I don't give a fiddler's fart if someone (including myself) happens to be inconvenienced by a plan to improve the public realm for everybody.

'Oh my drive will take longer now', let me get my violin.

keane2097

source wrote: »

I live on South Circular Road, my kids go to swimming lessons in Corbally, the only realistic route for me to bring them home is O'Connell St. Any other route takes me on a completely circuitous journey that makes no sense.

Taking the bus would require a change in town and hoping that both busses are on time and I can't cycle them across town because of their age. So I'm left with the car and O'Connell St.

Could you not drive in the dock road and around by Arthurs Quay Park?

Google Maps has three routes within one minute of one another, only one of which appears to involve O'Connell Street...

TPMP

Lots of noise here but I'm yet to receive a single alternative option. I'm all for improving O'Connell St, but there has to be a change in the traffic layout in Limerick to make it work.

They recently took a lane off of Wickham St and inevitably gridlock ensued. This plan in theory is good but without the necessary changes there will be gridlock. Nothing to do with selfishness, entitlement or whatever else you'd like to call it.

keane2097

TPMP wrote: »

Lots of noise here but I'm yet to receive a single alternative option. I'm all for improving O'Connell St, but there has to be a change in the traffic layout in Limerick to make it work.

They recently took a lane off of Wickham St and inevitably gridlock ensued. This plan in theory is good but without the necessary changes there will be gridlock. Nothing to do with selfishness, entitlement or whatever else you'd like to call it.

There aren't any quicker alternative routes from the City Centre to the northside than OCS, if there were you would already be using them.

The argument is that not everyone agrees that the lad driving his car through the city centre is automatically entitled to the quickest route. Perhaps the pedestrian is entitled to clean air and a pleasant environment more than you are entitled to get from the city centre to the Jetland in the shortest possible time.

Obviously alternative traffic layouts would have to be decided upon. The whole conversation is about alternative traffic layouts.

Cookiemunster

TPMP wrote: »

Lots of noise here but I'm yet to receive a single alternative option. I'm all for improving O'Connell St, but there has to be a change in the traffic layout in Limerick to make it work.

They recently took a lane off of Wickham St and inevitably gridlock ensued. This plan in theory is good but without the necessary changes there will be gridlock. Nothing to do with selfishness, entitlement or whatever else you'd like to call it.

The traffic layout was changed years ago to allow for the full pedestrianisation of O'Connell St. https://www.live95fm.ie/news/new-traffic-system-for-limerick-city/
We're not getting full pedestrianisation though, as there will still be at least one lane for traffic along the whole street.

As for Wickham St, how did those motorists get by for the month that Wickham St was closed? Did they by any chance use a different route that didn't lead to gridlock?

Phileas Frog

keane2097 wrote: »

Did we ever figure out what's going on alongside Woodies on the Ennis Road?

A branch of the Chicken Hut

source

keane2097 wrote: »

Could you not drive in the dock road and around by Arthurs Quay Park?

Google Maps has three routes within one minute of one another, only one of which appears to involve O'Connell Street...

I do, going there, but coming back it's unavoidable without a ridiculous detour. I'm all for pedestrianisation of O'Connell St, but only as part of an overall traffic management plan with some actual foresight and thought put into it.

The knee jerk reaction method of planning our city is well known for is not the way forward.

Ideally, I would like to see the LNDR completed, a full review of the one way system in Limerick city center (to facilitate pedestrianisation), and the results of that review implemented and tested before removing traffic from O'Connell St.

The idea of pedestrianisation without planning for where the traffic would go is ridiculous. Of course our city shouldn't be dictated by the car, but we need to correctly reroute the traffic before closing the city centre to cars. The idea of just sending all the cars up William St around a long detour isn't the way to do it.