Idea of closing Laurence’s Gate to thousands of cars will be ‘proven to be madness’
Dear Sir,
EMOTIVE social issues, without practical application, are a curse and inevitably throw up unforeseen consequences. In my view, our Local Council, with the honourable exception of Tommy Byrne, has handed all local traffic, private and business, a right headache by voting to close Laurence Gate. Anecdotally, I have struggled to fine anyone who actually tries to drive around town, who thinks it is a good idea. These are my thoughts.
Drogheda is built in a dish, with the land rising up on both sides of the river. Our historic medieval layout is tight, with narrow streets that are not conducive to the free movement of modern traffic volumes. Therefore the use of every scrap of road, pass and laneway is vital to avoid gridlock. The problem is particularly acute in the centre of town.
The Barbican is a magnificent structure, an iconic feature of de Lacey`s old Norman walled town. It is tough, has defied all climatic change for 800 years and will stand solid for another 800. Of course we should preserve it, but in a practical way that will not cause chaos without any meaningful gain.
We can not protect it with a glass case or a plastic canopy. In all its years the traffic of evolving centuries has passed through without difficulty until the recent arrival of the monster heavy goods vehicles. It should be simple, a no brainer, to stop such HGV traffic from going anywhere near the Constitution Hill, Chord Road, Francis Street junctions, it can not negotiate the narrow turns. Stop it, pass a bye law if necessary.
Five thoroughfares converge to a meeting point at the Gate entrance, three east, two west, right in the heart of a town already creaking under the ever increasing volume of traffic – and we decide to CLOSE IT.
All the artery roads into town are constantly busy and the Sunday Gate area is one of the most crowded and dangerous areas – and the intention is to congest it even further with a bumper to bumper stream up Francis Street trying to edge into Scarlet Street – road rage and panel beaters spring to mind. And that’s without even visiting the other spill over points in the town centre.
I believe that this idea will be proven to be madness.
What evidence has been produced that closing the Gate will make it any more attractive as a tourist location. It has always been an impressive sight for visitors. Closing the Gate will make little difference.
There is no space, the five adjacent roads come tight up to the structure. It is not as if a green area can be developed with seats etc. You can not photograph it from too close – best shots are from some distance back in Laurence Street or the Chord Road, both of which will have moving traffic.
The idea of inviting people to climb it is a dodgy one. As a `seed, breed and generations` Drogheda citizen in my late seventies I remember a gentler time that we could climb the Gate as youngsters, at will.
Apart from requiring the faculties of a mountain goat it is a particularly rough medieval stone stairway that I can not see too many venturing up, particularly as there is a magnificent overview of the town from the safe walls at Millmount. And of course I should mention the perils of our rapidly developing American style of `litigation opportunism` where skidding on a chip or tapping your knee on a café table can get you substantial `compensation` from a sympathetic court. Does the Council intend providing on site supervision during opening hours.
On balance this decision is like taking a sledge hammer to crack a nut, idealistic but devoid of practical application. Major disruption to the town`s already difficult traffic problems traded for what is a questionable, at best, return on `protection` and `tourism`.
The solution is common sense – leave the traffic alone and immediately ban HGVs from anywhere on the roads near the Gate. There are a variety of ways of doing this. Its not too late to change minds. Sometimes it is the right thing to do. If it goes ahead I bet there will be many motorists who will suddenly wake up to what has been done in their name. Too late my friends. Whilst I live in hope I am also acutely aware of what Gay Byrne once said on another such occasion - `there is not a lot of common sense about`.