Main St bollards removed for garda patrols
INDEPENDENT councillor Leonard Kelly told council officials that people walking on Wexford’s Main Street have been concerned about the removal of bollards, allowing traffic to drive through the normally pedestrianed town centre.
Borough Engineer Sean Kavanagh replied that the bollards were taken down to facilitate patrols by garda cars monitoring compliance with Covid-19 restrictions.
‘Some of them were removed so that the gardaí could carry out surveillance patrols in the early stages of the lockdown, to enable them to patrol the town in this unprecedented time’, he said.
Mr. Kavanagh said subject to members’ agreement, the proposal now is to install the bollards from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and remove them in the evening to allow gardai to patrol the area. Bin lorries carrying out refuse collections can access the Main Street up to 11 a.m.
He said they would review it next month and most likely return to the normal arrangement, adding: ‘but we don’t see a major issue with it’.
Cllr. Kelly said the Main Street was being used as an amenity during Covid-19 restrictions and he was contacted by people concerned about cars driving up quite quickly behind them in the middle of the day.
The engineer said he was more concerned when the council decided to re-open a pedestrianised section of North Main Street, as it was used by far more pedestrians than the rest of the street during this time.