Limerick improvement projects

Oh and another thing while we're at it.

Rename the airport and port to Limerick International Airport with US pre-clearance and Limerick International Port.

If I'm an investor/industry owner in Austin or Chengdu and I want to put money somewhere - what I do?

I'll look at a map and see Limerick, then I'll ask can I get my executives in and out - I don't see Limerick Airport. There is one called Shannon but I'm not tooo familiar with Ireland, I here it's divided. Let's see if I can get shipments in and out? What?? Foynes? Ah here the place is up in a heap. Oh look, here's a place in Scotland called Aberdeen, I'll have a look at this place instead.

Now, there ends my ranting for today.

Edit: used small letter for the US.

That is a good idea about the colour zones.

Back in the mid 1990s - THIS IS A TRUE STORY!!!!!

Dermot Desmond wanted to build a new town at Limerick Junction - 10k houses, a town centre, offices, commercial units, for a locality Spar/Centra or the like, hairdresser, pub, chipper etc etc - a bit like Father Russell Road or Ballycumin - modern commercial centre.

He viewed these dwellers as commuters to employment in an expanding Limerick City. Iaranroid Eireann disagreed they refused to entertain such an audacious plan to take part outside of Dublin. That is where the jobs were needed in the 1990s, not in the provincial towns.

EDIT: I omitted this line in the orginal post:

He asked for the Trains runing between Limerick City and Limerick Junction be increased to accomodate 7-10k workers, roughly every 30 minutes.

Iaranroid Eireann refused

Also in the 1990s, Irish Rail (Iaranroid Eireann) were asked to create a Dublin/Limerick train, Limerick/Cork train and a separate Portlaoise/Dublin train as there were so many communters to Dublin living in Portlaoise.

Iaranroid Eireann refused.

The reason - The only train line in the country that turned a profit was the Cork/Dublin line. Every other train service in the entire country was subsidised by the Dublin/Cork line or the taxpayer. They couldn't afford to split the commuters using that line.

Things have not changed in 2022.

If they had, Iaranroid Eireann would be announcing new lines.

Let any person banging a drum for new rail here tell me and show that I am incorrect with the above I will advocate for the Moyross station myself.

Or maybe you know for once we might employ a bit of logical thinking and actually develop infrastructure that isn't designed to fail. All it takes is a bit of joined up thinking. The proposed rail station at the Parkway for instance should integrate with the planned UL to city centre bus corridor. Designate the Parkway station as a permitted location for the dockless bike scheme also and it'll allow multi-modal transport interchange for passengers/users. Our land use planning is beyond a joke in this city. There is a significant amount of land in the vicinity of the Parkway that is vastly underutilised and needs to be developed for high density residential to support compact growth. It's the norm all over Europe to site significant residential development at transport interchanges and it also needs to happen here quickly.

That's the route we should be going down but of course there are many vested interests such as land speculators and certain developers who want you to believe that the Northern Distributor Road Phase 2 is "integral" to the development of the city. This crackpot scheme to run a dual carriageway through agricultural fields and lands prone to flooding in sparsely populated rural South East Clare would be an act of astounding stupidity pure and simple. It's purpose is to open up isolated lands serviced by zero infrastructure for sprawling, low density semi-d housing developments which will just exacerbate the awful car dependent planning mess we've created in existing Limerick suburbs over the last 50 years. The even more hairbrained UL SDZ is entirely dependent on the LNDR and this catastrophic proposal sited entirely in South East Clare would be extraordinarily detrimental to efforts to revitalise and repopulate Limerick city centre. Hopefully common sense will prevail and Clare County Council's application will be dismantled and rejected by the Minister for Housing and Local Government.

It's quite astounding to see the extent to which so many people have been brainwashed and conditioned to believe that cars are the only viable method of travelling into and around cities. Such a primitive and backward mentality is one of the main reasons Irish cities are such ugly car infested sewers in stark contrast to the rest of Europe. Entirely hostile to pedestrians, the elderly, people with disabilities, cyclists etc etc. It really is time we got our **** together and realise that if we want Limerick to grow and improve we need to go another way and stop repeating the same mistakes which have been continually undermining the city for decades!

I meant to ask you earlier - There is a 306 that leaves from the Junction of Ballynanty/Moyross - is this a city centre bus or does it have another destination?

Looks good and simple. That's all people want.

Cool.

Cool.

mmh, perhaps, I might disagree with you there. The Irish Estates in Corbally was built to house the Brass of the Shannon Scheme and the workers were coming from anywhere at all that could secure a job on it. I think the Shannon Scheme brought new traffic to Limerick via Corbally.

However, consider what was in the Long Pavement? Moyross didn't exist, Kileely, Ballynanty were just built - essentially it was a stop between these new population centres and Parteen too. And - Historically it was the old Dublin Road. Plus in those days people didn't think a 5/6km cycle home was such a big deal.

One could argue if the dump wasn't built that the people of the northside of Limerick would have developed a culture of catching a train to town, cycling to the station etc.

However, if you look at how the city is laid out and the legacy we still have today. Pre 1800 the main road to Dublin was from where the Locke Bar is now, through Nicholas Street, across Thomond Bridge, Through Tomondgate, along the New Road (laid ca 1800) to Watch House Cross, then along the Long Pavement into Parteen, through Clonlara through Kilalloe/Ballina over the hill at Tountinna (Arra Mountains) and into Nenagh.

It was only after Cruise's Hotel (they had a royal seal) successfully lobbied - after they were built (1799 or 1806??) - to change the main road to Dublin to go through Singland and a coach from Cruise's would now bring you along what is now Patrick Street, Clare Street and the Dublin road as far as Groody, then it was another few years before the road was paved between Groody and Nenagh. Well, you can see for yourself how that side of town developed after that.

Competition - remember - competition - drove the travel time with Buchanan based in Thomondgate and on the old route from 4 (four) days to 24 (twenty four) HOURS by the time Marconi Bianconi moved in.

It wasn't authority that drove shorter travel times, better road conditions, more comfortable coaches, more changes of horses etc etc, it was the opening up of a choice of how to travel. Essentially Capitalism!

Drive through Borris-on-Ossory today, the only thing left on the main street is a garda station and a few private houses. The Large hotel that used to accomodate passengers on the bus to Dublin is boarded up. The Petrol station met as you enter the town from Limerick is derelict, the petrol station as you leave the town towards Dublin is barely surviving - This is as a result of the M7 skirting by the town.

Did the people of that town think the motorway would have been good for them? I doubt it. The hotel really only developed after the buses started pulling in there and every house in the town probably thought the lack of traffic would bring them peace. I don't think anyone foresaw it to become what it is now. Compare that to Moneygall which looks very attractive, perhaps they're all working for Pat McDonagh, but the contrast between two places is stark. Like what was once the main road to Dublin and what is the main road to Dublin.

Nothing stays the same, when people pass by (footfall, in modern terms) places prosper, when people don't places dwindle to obscurity.

This all needs to be though about before places and areas are developed.

For example: Coonagh Cross Shopping Centre - Pre Bust it was going to be a hub of activity with a cinema, etc etc. Post Bust and even when development was going on elsewhere no interest was shown in it - even though it was on a main road. Then LIT bought it. Now we have development along Condell Road and eventually Knockilasheen Road and it will become a central hub again. If LIT use it for lecture halls, more development will be needed to accomodate commercial activity for the local population.

Transport and the development of it is a double edged sword and it can kill or maim just as easily as bring prosperity.

It will be like sitting indoors again. ;-)

Train station toilets are rarely not rank even when they are new. The place badly needed a refurb though and the whole place is hilariously shoddy for the main train station in a relatively wealthy European city.

Or do like they do in London and rename it Limerick-Shannon airport.

The newish coffee shop on the corner of Catherine Street and Thomas street have their benches placed outside the frosted glass today as I passed! It didn't look like there was much sunlight getting into the new enclosed space.