Gate will be closed in matter of months
TRAFFIC FLOW SYSTEM ON CHORD ROAD AND FRANCIS STREET WILL BE REVERSED
LOUTH County Council are starting work on a new traffic system in the vicinity of Laurence’s Gate that will see the structure closed to vehicles within months.
Following a vote by councillors to close off the Gate last week, new road markings will come into operation shortly, as well as revised one-way routes.
From the summer, Francis Street will be oneway up the street from the Chord Road with Jim Garry Way also reversed, traffic then exiting onto King Street/William Street.
Up to eight parking spaces on Palace Street will be extinguished to allow a turn into the Laurence Centre car park.
The Chord Road will also be reversed, with traffic now able to access the port area from the street.
Local pressure groups say they are delighted with the historic decision and feel it will open up the area to tourism.
Meanwhile, local councillor Pio Smith intends to table a motion for the next council meeting, urguing a 30km/h limit on the Chord Road and also wants constant monitoring of the situation by the council.
He says there are potential ‘choke points’ that must be addressed.
ULTIMATELY, it was people power that saw the final blow, the final act in a campaign to close St Laurence’s Gate to traffic after centuries of use.
Horses, bikes, cars, trucks and even cows have ventured through the archway, but within months, it will close to transport and open to people, finally the chance to stand under the magnificent Barbican - the best in Europe - and just look up at its majesty - without the risk of a nifty Ford or Toyota clipping you from behind.
Like any good negotiations there had to be a game changer and that came as a direct result of the public consultation.
Traffic plans dated from 2001 - with a few incarnations in the past 16 years - but none of them fitted the bill.
The last in 2012 suggested reversing traffic flow on Shop Street and traffic lights at the Tholsel.
The Drogheda Chamber feared a huge impact on trade, residents, of increased traffic and parking issues.
Even in February, a plan was produced making part of Francis Street two-way - not on.
Then it went out to the public and over 100 submissions came in.
And it was working through these - submitted by local residents - that a new plan was built, a workable plan.
Last Wednesday, councillors and a packed public gallery (unusually, remarked Cllr Richie Culhane, it was often packed with protestors, rather than people supporting something) gathered in Barlow House.
The vote was pretty simple. Adopt a plan that will see Francis Street’s traffic flow reversed and part of Chord Road also reversed. So too, Jim Garry Way.
As an amendment, a portion of Scarlet Street from the Jim Garry Way exit to the turn in for the Laurence Shopping Centre car park will be twoway to allow for shoppers to use that entrance.
From the moment councillors began to speak, the mood in the public gallery completely relaxed. They were like a football team, 5-0 up with a minute to go. Yes, it was going to happen, but the whistle hadn’t blown just yet.
Cllr Kevin Callan had proposed the latest motion in relation to the gate’s closure and remarked ‘it was the longest road to close the shortest road in Drogheda.’
He, like the rest, paid tribute to the council engineers for their efforts and to all those that helped make the day happen.
Cllr Paul Bell spoke of his journey from 2007 on the issue and asked would the French people allow cars travel up the Champs -Elysees and then under the Arc de Triomphe. ‘No,’ he stated, ‘ then why should we allow this?’
He feels the elements of the closure are interim measures until the Northern Port Access Route is built and that will be another game changer.
Pio Smith declared his support, but had questions and wants active monitoring of the situation, stating that Scarlet Street is one of the main arteries into the town.
He also expressed fears of a ‘rat run’ down Oulster Lane, across the Chord and down Constitution Hill.
The junction at Jim Garry Way/King St/Willia m St and Palace St would need to be monitored as it could become a ‘choke point.’
Joanna Byrne praised the role of the Close The Gate committee in the whole thing and how the council, to their credit, had taken on board public suggestions.
Preserving the gate for future generations was how Frank Godfrey viewed the whole thing, making mention also of the Old Drogheda Society and its support.
Richie Culhane said London had its Big Ben and Egypt, the Pyramids and the Gate was ‘an historic piece of our infrastructure.’
He spoke of the ‘civil mindedness’ that forced the hand of those in power to make decisions and now hoped we’d see an influx of tourists.
Kenneth Flood said at the first meeting he attended in McHugh’s he described the Gate as the ‘jewel in the crown’ and it made Drogheda special, not just ‘provincial town X’.
Newly sworn in councillor David Saurin certainly had a baptism of fire, but he said they had supported the people on this, but agreed that it needed to be constantly monitored.
Mayor Oliver Tully thanked the members and the public for their involvement and said that after the gate closes there will be a review after 12 months.
The vote was called and the previous nine voted in favour of closure. That left Tommy Byrne on his own. He said he wasn’t against closing the gate, but feared the consequences and how this was an ‘experiment’ on the livelihoods of people, especially small rate payers.
‘I see traffic jams on the Dublin Road and I ask, where are people going to go,’ he asked.
‘If we clog up the town with even more traffic, people are going to go to outside shopping centres.
‘I ask that we defer a decision on the closure until we get a commitment on the port route,’ he stated.
When the vote was taken, Engineer Pat Finn stated that works could start pretty quickly and the school holidays might be a good time to introduce the closure.
Afterwards, members of the Close the Gate group expressed delight at the historic decision and thanked all those who supported the closure since the campaign was launched.