New road along the river into Grammar
A new access road is to be built into Sligo Grammar School along the Garavogue River.
The School was given planning permission recently for the new access road by Sligo County Council.
The new road will link up with the proposed new Eastern Distributor Road and bridge which will connect Doorly Park on the south of the Garavogue River with Ballinode on the north of the river.
A roundabout is proposed either side of the new bridge and the Grammar entrance road will act as the western arm off the roundabout on the northern side of the bridge.
It’s expected that the main access at the Mall will be use as normal by school traffic during construction of the access road - which will be built in conjunction with the Eastern Distributor Road “if possible” according to engineers for the school.
The internal layout of the existing Sligo Grammar School will largely stay the same.
The new access road will run parallel to the Garavogue and turn north to link up with existing internal road network which will stay the same.
An internal roundabout is proposed towards the western end of the proposed access road which will allow users to perform a u-turn and exit the development without causing disruption in traffic flow.
Once motorists have performed their u-turn, there are drop-off areas provided for buses and cars along the northern road edge. There will also be approximately 30 angled car parking spaces and a footpath along the road.
The existing main access from the Mall will be closed to vehicles and become a pedestrian zone.
Electric automatic gates are proposed to be installed at the proposed entrance to the Grammar off the new Eastern Distributor Road roundabout. These gates will be closed overnight when the school is closed.
Inland Fisheries Ireland said a significant portion of the site is within the Lough Gill Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and asked that the road maintains a minimum distance of 30 metres from the Garavogue River.
IFI also said the proposed road “may be premature”.
County planners gave it the green light on December 14 th.