City Hall says parents' bad parking to blame for school traffic woes

CITY Hall officials have said poor parking behaviour by parents rather than a lack of pedestrian crossings is to blame for health and safety concerns near schools.

Local residents and community groups have called for a pedestrian crossing at the Tory Top Road end of Upper Clarkes Road, but City Hall officials say the greatest danger comes from drivers not acting responsibly. Similar motions have been submitted regarding the Wellington Road area.

Lord Mayor Mick Finn is calling on the Council to listen to the community and consider a ‘pedestrian or traffic warden crossing’ in the area.

“It is a very busy community, you have one of the busiest community centres in Cork on one side, you have the library and then the Gaelscoil plus a number of shops,” he said.

“I was contacted by a number of parents and other people concerned about speeding and people’s ability to access each of those places, especially at peak times. Some sort of controlled access is required to let people cross over.”

He believes better pedestrian access would encourage people not to drive to the already congested area.

“We are encouraging people to walk to school, but then you have to be able to cross the road,” he said.

In response, a council official said there were no plans for any such facility and suggested local parents need to take some responsibility.

“The main cause of health and safety issues particularly outside the gates of schools is poor parking behaviour by parents/guardians,” they wrote.

“There is an onus on everybody to take responsibility for their own behaviour and it is recommended that schools remind parents of this on a regular basis.”

But Mr Finn rejected this suggestion.

“I’m not happy with the response and I expect to get support from the ward councillors who I am sure will have tabled similar motions over the years,” he said.

“Myself and the ward councillors are in a better position to suggest what is wrong, rather than officials. We know there is an issue there, the people working and using the community centre and the library know there is an issue.”