Balance struck to keep streets safe and open

SHOPS, pubs and restaurants will be very different places for the foreseeable future but so too will the streets and paths of our towns and villages.

As part of the Government roadmap for reopening the country Kerry County Council, like all local authorities, have been instructed to carry out a root and branch revamp of how our towns are laid out and function.

Work on this unprecedented and massive project has been underway since May 1 and details of what it will mean for Kerry’s 21 main towns emerged on Monday.

In simple terms people living in towns across the county – and particularly the larger and busier towns like Tralee, Killarney, Listowel, Dingle, Kenmare and Killorglin – will have to adapt to some major changes as they go about their day to day business.

Pedestrians will be affected but the main impact will be felt by motorists with road closures, diversions and the removal of parking spaces among the main measures in the council’s plan to open Kerry for business while meeting social distancing requirements.A loss of parking spaces will be a significant issue though not all towns will be as badly affected. For example while Killarney will lose 58 spaces and Kenmare 25 the layout of Tralee and Dingle mean that they will lose only five each.

An issue for all towns will be the impact on traffic with road closures and diversions set to bring huge volumes of additional traffic onto roads in several towns that already suffered from severe congestion.

This will be a problem in many areas but it is likely to be especially severe at peak times in parts of Tralee to offer another example of how the effect of the new rules will impact different towns.

Council staff have worked to come up with the best possible plans for each town but in many areas they are hamstrung in what they can do in order to balance public safety (and the necessity for two metre social distancing) with a return to economic activity.

In doing so a formula was applied with streets categorised by the width of the pavements (whether they were over or under 2.5 metres in width); their average footfall; and the need to accommodate shop queues or seating for businesses.

Based on that formula a street with wide paths and low footfall, such as Denny Street in Tralee, will need only signs and pavement stencils – both of which are cheap and easy to install – to guide pedestrians and orient shop queues.

Meanwhile a street like Henry Street in Kenmare with only thin paths, high pedestrian footfall, numerous pubs and restaurants and a large volume of passing traffic require far greater changes.