Final route decided for Active Travel Scheme to connect Colbert Station and UL

THE final route has been decided upon for the Active Travel Scheme to connect Colbert Station and UL.

The route to proceed to a statutory planning process for the proposed Wickham Street to Clare Street Active Travel Scheme is being outlined by Limerick City and County Council following significant stakeholder engagement on the project.

The decision follows a period of non-statutory public consultation, traffic surveys, parking surveys and the compiling of an Economic Assessment Report on the proposals, which has been conducted by a third party outside of Limerick Council. This Economic Assessment involved directly engaging with both businesses and consumers on the proposed project routes in the form of questionnaires and surveys.

Limerick Council’s Active Travel department is continuing to work closely with other departments within the local authority, to ensure the scheme runs in tandem with the overall development of the area, including the proposed Market Quarter and Cruises Street Public Realm Upgrade Works.

Members of the public are invited to attend an information session on the progression of the proposals on Thursday, March 6 at the Citizen Innovation Lab, UL City Campus, Sarsfield Street between 6pm and 8pm.

The route which will proceed to a statutory planning process for the Wickham Street to Clare Street Active Travel Scheme is the proposed ‘yellow’ route, which begins at Parnell Street and goes through Wickham Street, on to High Street and Mungret Street, before coming on to Broad Street and finishing on Clare Street, connecting to the Park Canal. This route will now be progressed by the Active Travel team with a view to submitting a statutory planning application thereafter.

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The objective of the scheme is to connect the Colbert Station Quarter to the University of Limerick with dedicated walking, wheeling and cycling facilities via the city centre and the Park Canal.

Senior Engineer with the Active Travel team at Limerick Council, Sean McGlynn, commented:

“This important project will take in the heart of Limerick city centre and the Active Travel team has spent a considerable period of time taking the views of the many stakeholders in the area into account before selecting a route for the scheme.

"The route has been chosen based on a number of different evidence-based criteria, including potential traffic impacts and economic impacts, along with the important feedback we have received from businesses, residents and people who want to spend time and money in the city. After our latest public information event on Thursday, March 6 which I would encourage all interested parties to attend, the project will begin the appropriate statutory planning processes.”

The Wickham Street to Clare Street Active Travel Scheme is a project being delivered by Limerick Council. It is being funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA).

It is proposed to connect the Colbert Station Quarter to Park Canal and the University of Limerick via a pedestrian and cycle facility. The Scheme is being considered in the context of the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040, and is being developed with consideration of the Limerick Development Plan 2022-2028.

The Scheme completed a period of non-statutory public consultation in May 2023. The report on that consultation can be viewed here.

Work on an Economic Assessment in respect of the project is now completed. The Economic Assessment has been completed by a third party, outside of Limerick Council. The full Economic Assessment Report is available here.

A diagram of the ‘Yellow’ route for the project, which will now proceed through a statutory planning process, can be found here.