Segregated cycle lanes ruled out
THE provision of segregated cycle lanes as part of the redevelopment of Clanbrassil Street and the St Nicholas Quarter have been ruled out but Louth County Council Chief Executive has agreed to look at suggestions for a cycle network to run parallel to Clanbrasil Street which would link the town’s schools, bus and train station.
As councillors considered the planning report for the €4.4million town centre rejuvenation, Cllr Mark Dearey argued that the street was wide enough to allow a full cycle facility inside the parked traffic yet separated from pedestrians by bollards or kerb. He believed this could be ‘easily facilitated’ by making the footpaths narrower.
Mr Gareth Maguire, architect director with consultants BDP Ireland, said they had taken a balanced approach in preparing the design and were giving priority to pedestrians. Providing a cycle lane would have had an impact on junctions and would have had a detrimental effect on the number of car parking spaces. They had aimed at creating an environment where traffic would be slowed down, making it safer for cyclists,
Cllr Dearey contested that the reason given in the Manager’s report was that the road width was the problem but he felt that willingness was the problem. There was an obligation on the local authority to address climate change by finding a way of making the town centre less dependant on cars.
He wondered would it be possible to look at some other suggestions, referring to the submissions by the principals of the three Friary Schools pointing to the need to link the schools by cycle lanes to the bus station via Mulholland Avenue.
Chief Executive Ms Joan Martin said she felt that main street is different to other streets in the town and that it was appropriate to give priority to pedestrians, to the people who shop, people who live nearby or come to town. She insisted that she ‘absolutely isn’t anti-cyclist’ but the design had been drawn up after listening to the views of groups representing older people and disability forum. She would be loath to reduce the footpath width as the whole idea was to widen the pedestrian area and create plazas.
She would take on board what had been said about cycle lanes and agreed a lot more work to be done and undertook to look at the suggestions made regarding developing an alternative cycle route to run parallel with Clanbrassil St.
Cllr Marianne Butler said that while she agreed with the Chief Executive that the main street should be different, she recalled the ambitions of the Smarter Travel proposals which had been drawn up some years ago and also noted that in Waterford, the Greenway goes right into the town centre.
Mr Maguire said they did look at having designated marked lanes for cyclists on both sides of the road but felt there would be a conflict with cars opening doors and decided that a shared space would be better.