Upgrade needs to be done in entirety

BRIDGE Street is the street most in need of inclusion in the proposed refurbishment of the town’s streets north of the town centre, according to local traders and residents.

The St Nicholas Quarter Residents and Traders’ Group handed copies of their submission to Louth County Council regarding the Part Vlll propoal for the upgrade of Clanbrassi St/ St Nicholas Quarter to councillors before last week’s meeting of Dundalk Municipal District Committee.

While the meeting heard that there are no funds at present to complete the work as far as the Big Bridge, the group have urged that ‘any development undertaken must be completed in entirety’.

While welcoming and supporting the principles of the revitalisation scheme which they agreed was ‘ long overdue’, they argued that parts of the proposal ‘will have a detrimental effect on the economic vitality of the St Nicholas Quarter area’ and ‘would cause long term harm to the town centre both economically and socially’.

Their submission came following several meetings of local traders and residents and also saw the group take advice from independent engineers.

In their detailed submission, they express concern about proposals to cut the number of parking spaces by 64% in Church Street without providing alternative local parking facilities. They were also concerned at the proposal to divert traffic via the Fair Green Road through St Mary’s Road and Yorke Street, noting that this route is highly congested and frequently subject to flooding at high tide.

They also claim that the engineering report for the scheme didn’t deal with the confluence of primary and secondary school, with a population of over 2,000 pupils, within a 300m radius of the of the St Nicholas Quarter and that the schools were not consulted.

The creation of a new public plaza in the St Nicholas Quarter would come ‘at the expense of vital parking spaces, road geometry at junctions that facilitate the safe and free movement of commercial vehicles,’ they argue.

The Council’s plans also failed to address the proposed use of upper floors and back land properties for residential purposes and the design statement only dealt with aesthetics, surface treatments and finishes and didn’t mention the needs of residents, property owners or businesses in the area.

While they were aware of the financial constraints, they argued that Bridge Street, where the vacancy/dereliction was over 75%, was the street which most needed to be included in the proposed street refurbishment works.