Limerick improvement projects

J Mysterio

Cookiemunster wrote: »

https://twitter.com/limerickcitybiz/status/750328341744410624

Hanging Gardens? What is it?

Irish_rat

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Was that the actual colour the building was gonna be?

Looks horrid. Sure to be built so

Cookiemunster

Irish_rat wrote: »

Looks horrid. Sure to be built so

I'm pretty sure that's an artists impression and if it was ever built it would look completely different.

locksloughnane

There's a new website out (for mobile devices really) that promotes Limerick's history and heritage.. I know the lads involved... very much in pilot mode and they hope to turn it into an app with funding.. Limericks landmarks .com is the address.

crusha101

I dont know if Moyross is ready for this yet but definetly something for the pipeline http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/212124/activist-wants-new-limerick-rail-station.html

Poxyshamrock

crusha101 wrote: »

I dont know if Moyross is ready for this yet but definetly something for the pipeline http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/212124/activist-wants-new-limerick-rail-station.html

That is such a non-story. One guy says he'd like a station for Moyross and then the Leader run a random story including the routing of the rail line. :pac:

crusha101

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

crusha101 wrote: »

I dont know if Moyross is ready for this yet but definetly something for the pipeline http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/212124/activist-wants-new-limerick-rail-station.html

That is such a non-story. One guy says he'd like a station for Moyross and then the Leader run a random story including the routing of the rail line. :pac:

Haha yeah couldn't agree anymore the leader is full of non stories , just thought i'd post it in here due to a lack of activity recently.

MrJones2013

Ah the good old Limerick Leader, another nonsense story to pad the printed edition of the paper!

To be fair, in other European cities an area that has a rail line and is close to both a 26,000 and a 50,000 (Gaelic Grounds) capacity and sports grounds would have a station, thats other European cities where things are generally done correctly, not here in Ireland.

Cookiemunster

MrJones2013 wrote: »

Ah the good old Limerick Leader, another nonsense story to pad the printed edition of the paper!

To be fair, in other European cities an area that has a rail line and is close to both a 26,000 and a 50,000 (Gaelic Grounds) capacity and sports grounds would have a station, thats other European cities where things are generally done correctly, not here in Ireland.

Very few European cities a have heavy rail station anywhere near a stadium. There are plenty that have a metro or under ground nearby, but even then that's only in large cities with the population to justify such a system.
Also Thomond is used max 11 times a years, has maybe 3 - 4 games anywhere near capacity and is a 20 min walk from the city center. It doesn't need a rail connection. The Gealic grounds is lucky to get 2 games a year that break 10,000 and is is even less need of a rail connection.

MrJones2013

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Very few European cities a have heavy rail station anywhere near a stadium. There are plenty that have a metro or under ground nearby, but even then that's only in large cities with the population to justify such a system.
Also Thomond is used max 11 times a years, has maybe 3 - 4 games anywhere near capacity and is a 20 min walk from the city center. It doesn't need a rail connection. The Gealic grounds is lucky to get 2 games a year that break 10,000 and is is even less need of a rail connection.

Very true and to be honest I don't see any need for a station in Moyross myself. However Limerick is supposed to be one of the 'Smarter Travel Demonstration Cities' so it's nice to see an alternative suggestion to letting the car at home, usually these are all cycling related and we don't exactly have the weather for that.....it won't be happening anytime soon though!

Tefral

The idea has some merit. Not really the way the leader spins it as quite rightly pointed out above its unusal to have such a station near a ground and especially one thats hardly full anymore.

Where I think it has merit is to remove the cul-de-sac nature of Moyross. At the moment there is no real reason to go in there unless you have to. If it was opened up more and had more people moving through it I really think it would benefit the place.

Cookiemunster

Tefral wrote: »

The idea has some merit. Not really the way the leader spins it as quite rightly pointed out above its unusal to have such a station near a ground and especially one thats hardly full anymore.

Where I think it has merit is to remove the cul-de-sac nature of Moyross. At the moment there is no real reason to go in there unless you have to. If it was opened up more and had more people moving through it I really think it would benefit the place.

Phase 1 of the Norther Distributor Road from Coonagh to Knockalisheen will do that. It's currently out to tender, so hopefully construction will begin within the next 12 months.

Bored_lad

crusha101 wrote: »

I dont know if Moyross is ready for this yet but definetly something for the pipeline http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/212124/activist-wants-new-limerick-rail-station.html

I think we'd be far better off buying high-speed trains and linking the train station to Shannon Airport.

Cookiemunster

Bored_lad wrote: »

I think we'd be far better off buying high-speed trains and linking the train station to Shannon Airport.

Nice idea, but totally unrealistic. It would require a completely new line from Limerick to Shannon which would cost hundreds of millions to construct. And it would service an airport that sees around 20 flights a day, most of which have departed by lunch time.

zulutango

If we're to plan for Limerick becoming Ireland's second city, then rail options throughout the city should be looked at. Maybe in 20 years there might be large residential areas out that way with thousands of workers commuting daily into Limerick's financial district!

Also, infrastructure should lead development rather than the other way around. It's a concept we hardly ever apply in this country. But if you build a rail station, then residential, commercial and industrial development could follow.

Bored_lad

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Nice idea, but totally unrealistic. It would require a completely new line from Limerick to Shannon which would cost hundreds of millions to construct. And it would service an airport that sees around 20 flights a day, most of which have departed by lunch time.

Ya but having good rail links may hopefully improve investment in Shannon Airport. But like you say it's unrealistic and if airport rail links are being developed Dublin will get there's first and the rest of us will be left fighting for the scraps left at the end.

bazz26

Given that Dublin airport doesn't have a rail network running from the city which let's face it has a lot more passengers coming through it, there is very little chance of it happening between Shannon airport and Limerick.

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Nice idea, but totally unrealistic. It would require a completely new line from Limerick to Shannon which would cost hundreds of millions to construct. And it would service an airport that sees around 20 flights a day, most of which have departed by lunch time.

Your approach is very 'back to front'. A rail link between Shannon and Limerick would likely have a transformative effect on both. If we're talking about building Limerick into a city of 600,000 people or more, as some eminent people are, then a rail link to the airport must be part of the picture.

flyingsnail

Given the time it takes the train to go around the city, it is likely to be equal or slower than the bus, cost more and only offer a service every 90 minutes to 2 hours I would consider a station in Moyross very much a non runner.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

Your approach is very 'back to front'. A rail link between Shannon and Limerick would likely have a transformative effect on both. If we're talking about building Limerick into a city of 600,000 people or more, as some eminent people are, then a rail link to the airport must be part of the picture.

No, my approach is realistic. Limerick with a population of 600K is fantasy and won't happen within the next century. There is already a dual carriageway and a regular bus service between Limerick and Shannon, which has plenty of extra capacity.
To even make a rail line viable versus the road you would need to be able to get to the airport in under 20 mins. The only was that would be possible would be a completely new line that didn't snake around the eastern and northern suburbs before heading west to Shannon. That would require a new rail crossing of the Shannon, West of the city. It would cost hundreds of millions and would lose money for years because the population density is nowhere near high enough to justify it.

MrJones2013

zulutango wrote: »

Your approach is very 'back to front'. A rail link between Shannon and Limerick would likely have a transformative effect on both. If we're talking about building Limerick into a city of 600,000 people or more, as some eminent people are, then a rail link to the airport must be part of the picture.

Cookiemunster wrote: »

No, my approach is realistic. Limerick with a population of 600K is fantasy and won't happen within the next century. There is already a dual carriageway and a regular bus service between Limerick and Shannon, which has plenty of extra capacity.
To even make a rail line viable versus the road you would need to be able to get to the airport in under 20 mins. The only was that would be possible would be a completely new line that didn't snake around the eastern and northern suburbs before heading west to Shannon. That would require a new rail crossing of the Shannon, West of the city. It would cost hundreds of millions and would lose money for years because the population density is nowhere near high enough to justify it.

Both of you have valid points, if we are looking at Limerick having a population of 600k then we should look at building a light rail line that is viable as the city grows and not as an afterthought, the stops enroute would become the most populous areas obviously but the rail line journey would have to be max 20 minutes.

If we are looking at Limerick having a sustained population of around 100k then the existing road link is sufficient.

Has there been any more talk about developing a counter balance to Dublin?

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote:

No, my approach is realistic. Limerick with a population of 600K is fantasy and won't happen within the next century.

Why do you say that?

Mc Love

MrJones2013 wrote: »

Has there been any more talk about developing a counter balance to Dublin?

Can't see that happening as the Peoples Republic would be up in arms and the whole parish pump politics in the country

zulutango

Mc Love wrote: »

Can't see that happening as the Peoples Republic would be up in arms and the whole parish pump politics in the country

**** 'em. Not much they can do about it if we get our act together.

MrJones2013

zulutango wrote: »

**** 'em. Not much they can do about it if we get our act together.

It's us getting our act together that will be our biggest obstacle!

MrJones2013

Mc Love wrote: »

Can't see that happening as the Peoples Republic would be up in arms and the whole parish pump politics in the country

There should be a serious discussion regarding it in my opinion. It needs to be explored if it is needed and if so an appropriate alternative needs to be selected even if it does end up being Cork or Galway or elsewhere, it's pointless trying to find a solution if Dublin cannot sustain any further growth in 10-15 years time.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

Why do you say that?

So you expect Limerick to grow to 6 times larger than it's current size within your lifetime? Where do you expect these extra half a million people to come from? That's 1/10th of the current population you're expecting to move to Limerick. While the population is growing, it's not growing anywhere near fast enough to deliver that kind of population growth. It would need mass immigration to get anywhere near those levels of growth. It's pure fantasy.
While Ireland definitely needs a counter point to Dublin, I see it being a combination of Limerick, Cork and Galway, rather than one city, with Limerick possibly doubling in size.

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote: »

So you expect Limerick to grow to 6 times larger than it's current size within your lifetime? Where do you expect these extra half a million people to come from? That's 1/10th of the current population you're expecting to move to Limerick. While the population is growing, it's not growing anywhere near fast enough to deliver that kind of population growth. It would need mass immigration to get anywhere near those levels of growth. It's pure fantasy.
While Ireland definitely needs a counter point to Dublin, I see it being a combination of Limerick, Cork and Galway, rather than one city, with Limerick possibly doubling in size.

We just don't know what will happen. Our current low population is a result of disastrous, centrist policies by successive governments, our very mismanaged region and multiple other factors. Many of those factors can and will change. The world is urbanising and it's happening fast. Limerick can stagnate, as it has done for the last century or it can get its act together and follow the trend. There's no great reason why Ireland couldn't have a population of 10 million. In that context, would this population be spread evenly across the country. If we had any sense it wouldn't be. Instead, it would be far better if it was concentrated in a few urban centres, including Limerick.

marno21

I would say that addressing the issue of public transport to Castletroy/UL is much more important than getting to Shannon.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

We just don't know what will happen. Our current low population is a result of disastrous, centrist policies by successive governments, our very mismanaged region and multiple other factors. Many of those factors can and will change. The world is urbanising and it's happening fast. Limerick can stagnate, as it has done for the last century or it can get its act together and follow the trend. There's no great reason why Ireland couldn't have a population of 10 million. In that context, would this population be spread evenly across the country. If we had any sense it wouldn't be. Instead, it would be far better if it was concentrated in a few urban centres, including Limerick.

Firstly I believe I said that Limerick would grow, just not to 600,000. Secondly the CSO prediction is around 6.7m by 2046. It'll be a long time before we reach 10m. Even if we do then the population while urban will be spread around the country. You have Waterford, Cork, Galway and large towns like Ennis, Sligo, Dundalk that would take the population as well as Limerick.