Limerick City Parking

that was in a private car park if you had parked using on street parking it would only have cost you €2 (€1 per hour) which is by far the cheapest.

the council have no say of what a private car park operator charges

Time to introduce a car parking space levy on shopping centres.

was that in a car park ? just checked my park magic app and i can get on street parking for 2 hours for €2.00

That involves way too much hassle and really the bigger issue that needs solving is parking in the city centre.

Park and ride really isn't that much hassle. People do it in cities all the time. It's a really good trick if your heading to UHL too.

Parking will never be "solved" in the city centre so might as well get used to it. There won't be free parking and even if there was it would be taken up by the workers in whatever shop you are visiting long before you arrive.

Thomas St. yesterday I noticed that the 818 clothes shop that became an Aontu themed nail place is now a Tattoo parlour. I hadn't even noticed work been done but it's a much cleaner less tacky looking black now.

It’s not “my issue”, a comment above stated they had to pay 8 quid for parking to meet a friend in town for a coffee. This will clearly encourage people to go to coffee shops outside the city for the free parking.

So you think all these features should be replicated in the city centre? Do you even understand what a city centre is? It's certainly not a sterile covered shopping mall so if you're worried about getting wet in there, amongst all the other hyperbolic sensationalist fears then maybe an outdoor street based retail and hospitality experience isn't for you.

Limerick city centre has a lot of legacy issues which have significantly impacted its wellbeing and performance. A low residential population, dereliction/vacancy, poor public realm/street design, lack of facilities, amenities and public spaces along with the prioritisation of traffic over people being chief among them.

One area it is most certainly not lacking in though is the availability of car parking. There are 9,000 parking spaces in the city centre, 4,000 on street and 5,000 in private car parks. You can park for 50c per 30 mins on the street so this incessant nonsensical ignorant 'outrage' over a supposed lack of parking needs to be called out for the utter bulls*** that it is.

The solid facts are that Limerick city centre has provided unrestricted access to vehicles for decades and decades yet the fortunes of the city centre have only being deteriorating over that period. More parking and more traffic is not going to save the city centre. It's actually going to damage it further. The reason the city centre looks so shabby and generally ugly is because the vast majority of streets are designed to accommodate cars rather than people. Most of the space is given over to vehicles with two rows of parking and two lanes of traffic. The footpaths are miserably narrow and poorly surfaced, streetlighting is outdated and inadequate and the general street environment is blighted by clutter like archaic ESB cables, ugly bollards and excessive signage and galvanised steel poles. These same streets are often full of cars but devoid of people.

Continental Europe has long realised that attractive street designs which prioritise people over cars are essential in making cities more liveable, vibrant and successful for both residents and visitors alike. Until we finally wake up to that reality we're going nowhere in Limerick and the city centre will continue to struggle and stagnate.

A lot of the shops you mention above have failed in general and not just in Limerick so not really fitting with the issue you are presenting of a vibrant city, yes they are a loss to the city and yes the city does need to address why it is struggling to attract new or bigger retailers but the same can be said about the crescent and most other towns city's the model is just not working for most.

The Crescent have a few empty units as well that aren't attracting any new big retail either, but again that's more to do with the other issues than just town or Crescent.

I have parked about 5-10 mins walk outside the city centre for years, for free and its a nice pleasant stroll with the kids into town for me or my wife, we have never felt unsafe and have done this in any and all weather conditions .Days I've been in a rush I've probably used the car parks and its been grand,(The euro car parks had a Sat offer for years where it worked out like 3 quid pretty much for the day)

Safety well unless you realise not everyone is out to get you then nothing can be done there ! the begger's are a pain but really again not just a issue that faces limerick. you go on about traffic in town but I would suggest removing the traffic is making it safer and pleasant place to be also no shop is gaining a customer if they are in their cars ,they are probably on their way to the Crescent for the free parking anyway !! vanquished hit the nail on the head Limerick has a lot of legacy issues and the retail world is changing but don't **** on it for not offering preceived convinence*.

by that i mean going to the crescent for me adds additional travel for me or most unless you live close by and then you should just walk there ,pain in the ass sometimes to get a parking space ,potentially more knicks or knocks on paintwork of car from inconsiderate parents leaving their kids swing cars doors open etc still a few a few mins walk to the actual building ,can still be approached in the car park being tapped, all to go into a stuffy mess of a place for 1 or 2 extra shops noooo thanks

And the worst part is there is no where to stop and have a pint!

I'm fairly sure stopping for a pint was just in jest for the most part ! but if you want a better take on it there is a lot nicer eateries to stop of at in town than in the Crescent. nicer parks than in the crescent

My point on the car damage is I've had my own car scratched and damaged hit with doors etc many times in the crescent and retail parks ,I never said this doesn't happen in city car parks, but if you look at post I park just outside where no damage has ever been done to my car and have had plenty of space to be able to get out and assemble buggies etc without hassle

everyone agrees that there is problems with getting new businesses to open but you cant ignore the fact that even if limerick OR LCC solved their side of the issues it still may not be able to attract business due to the changing landscape of retail EMPTY STEETS EMTPY UNITS stem from the same issues in general

do you though, you should be encouraging your kids to be outdoors and walking ,hell even for your own health , parking up in cleeves and strolling in to town is far nicer than trapsing around the Crescent fair enough if you are only getting your weekly shop but outside of that why would you bother

You can't get them into the city without clogging the city.

It's a physical impossibility.

Not what Limerick people seem to call the city anyway because somewhere like Cleeves is judged to be "way too far"

Speaking of eateries and most (not all) business the reason I use the city over any shopping centre is that shopping centres are bad for local business.

Local business is good if we don't want Limerick to just be a copy and paste job.

"We need to learn how to get them into the city (cars) without clogging up the city" - unless you build an underground road network that's just not possible.

Walking around the city centre with young kids is a bit stressful due to danger posed by motor traffic - you have to keep them close at all times. This is something you don't have to deal with in shopping centres which are basically a collection of traffic free pedestrianised streets. Edge of town shopping centres and big box stores along with prioritising motor traffic flow through the city centre over everything else has lead to the demise of the city centre. Until it becomes as attractive to live in for families who have chosen the suburbs and beyond over the last 40 years, the city centre will always struggle.

The "convenient" parking usually means roadside and that runs counter to making the city look good and cheaper seems to mean free which would be fine with me but won't happen.

Also to have very central multistorey you have to drive the cars into the centre which means loads of traffic

As for public transport we are due a 70% increase in city buses and loads of new routes. There has also already been an increase in bus routes from outside the city and ease of access to these routes has been improved too.

The council don't build ring roads as far as I'm aware. They would be TII national infrastructure projects.

Also the big hold up to the full ring road was the part that needs to run through Parteen in Clare so again not the councils fault.

A full ring road would be amazing though and you could certainly then start doing what Dublin is doing with banning through traffic which is a big problem on William St. and O'Connell St.

Corbally to Raheen on a full 360 ring road is more than good enough because It will be the fastest route due to less stopping and a higher speed limit.

Ring roads don't stop through traffic without other measures as every city that has one knows. Just look at Dublin for instance.

If you want to know how you enforce no through traffic there are loads of examples. Again look at the plans for Dublin.

I wouldn't consider the M50 to be a proper ring road as it only takes half a ring and is tolled. For example somebody going from Kilbarrack to Blackrock is going to go through the city instead of taking the M50

Again I'm not sure how they would police through traffic or even define what it is so it can be policed. Should we ban a car going from Corbally to Raheen or Caherdavin to Castletroy that wants to grab a quick takeaway cuppa from a cafe in Thomas Street for example?

When I was in college I was driving through the city to get from home to college but I'd regularly drop a family member to work in the city on my way. Was I part of the through traffic to be banned?

Some of the same people that are against traffic in the city are also against the ring road.

Personally, I don't see the city ever being traffic free unless there's an alternative option to drive around it.

And people act like Cecil st. is miles away despite it being just as close to your destination as a lot of parking spaces in a shopping centre.

It's actually not normal to have parking spaces on the likes of O'Connell/William/Thomas St.

What are the streets where there's free parking from 5pm Friday to 8am Monday?