Anger at ‘dumb idea’ to remove cars from Limerick's main thoroughfare

A TWO-WAY bus lane is being considered for O’Connell Street, which, if implemented, could remove general traffic from the city's main thoroughfare.

As work on the much-delayed €9.1m revamp of the street reaches its latter stages, it’s now emerged that in initial drafts of a new transport strategy, buses could end up running in both directions.

Early works for O’Connell Street envisioned total pedestrianisation, while the up-to-date project, which is currently being worked on, contains one lane of traffic and one bus lane – with council saying the scheme offers “pedestrian priority.”

A council spokesperson has insisted that O’Connell Street will not require further work if another bus lane is introduced, but councillors have criticised the proposal which the National Transport Authority (NTA) confirmed is included in an initial draft of its masterplan for Limerick and Shannon.

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The Limerick-Shannon Metropolitan Area Strategy, due to be published in the coming days, will govern how transport solutions are developed over the next decade locally.

At a special meeting of the metropolitan district, concerns were expressed over increased traffic congestion, with Cllr Sarah Kiely, Fine Gael, saying it has made “people panic and businesses worry.”

Councillor James Collins described it as a “dumb idea” adding: “The [revitalisation] project is not even finished, now we are talking about changing how the street is going to be used. It’s a really dumb use of a gorgeous street in a beautiful city. What are we at? It’s just plain stupid.”

Mr Collins, who voted against the proposed revitalisation when it came before members, claimed they were reassured that it would not become a two-way bus lane, a stance backed up by Cllr Elena Secas, Labour, who said: “We represent Limerick, we tell you what the people of Limerick want and it turns out it doesn’t matter what we say, it’s being decided by somebody else – who might not even live in the city.”

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Cllr Conor Sheehan said he regrets now approving the plans to part-pedestrianise the main street.

“I was only new on the council at the time, and I felt like we had a metaphorical gun held to us.”

A council spokesperson said: “O’Connell Street is being future-proofed to take account of what a city requires into the future.

“Any proposals would de debated and adjudicated on in the correct and proper manner.”

The NTA added the two-way lane option “provides for more efficient traffic management.”