Boardwalk adjoining Fermoy bridge under consideration

CORK COUNTY COUNCIL is considering a proposal to replace at least one pavement on Fermoy’s Kent Bridge with a metallic boardwalk adjoining the bridge, similar to the boardwalk under construction in Mallow.

Responding to concerns raised by Fermoy-based Fine Gael councillor Noel McCarthy about the width of the footpaths on the bridge, Cork County Council revealed plans for a feasibility study on the possibility of an overhang boardwalk akin to the boardwalk currently under construction in Mallow.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the Fermoy Municipal District, Councillor McCarthy had highlighted concerns that footpaths on either side of Kent Bridge, which currently has three lanes of traffic, are too narrow.

Mr McCarthy said that Covid-19 had exacerbated the problem, and added that people stepping into traffic to avoid oncoming pedestrians had become a “health and safety issue”.

Cork County Council Senior Engineer Brendan O’Gorman agreed that the footpaths on the bridge are too narrow, and announced the planned feasibility study into a boardwalk.

Work on the €2.1 million Mallow project commenced in 2019 and had been estimated to take approximately five months, however, because of the pandemic, it has yet to be completed.

Councillor McCarthy told The Echo he believed a boardwalk for Kent Bridge would be a very good solution to a serious safety issue.

“You’re taking your life into your hands when you step out into three lanes of traffic, and I’m for anything that will make our town a safer place to live,” Councillor McCarthy said.

Local people walking across the bridge on a recent evening seemed, for the most part, unenthused about the proposed boardwalk, but some told The Echo they liked the idea.

One woman said she thought it would be “ideal, just ideal, a fabulous idea because it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed on this bridge”. Another woman, walking with her granddaughter, said the proposed boardwalk sounded like “a monstrosity” and added “first they let the weir be washed away and now they want to destroy the bridge as well”.

Former Fine Gael town councillor Noel Barnes said the issue on Kent Bridge is traffic rather than pedestrians.

“Three lanes of traffic on the bridge is the problem, when there should be two lanes of traffic and decent footpaths on both sides.

“This is all down to Fermoy being the only town on the motorway between Cork and Dundalk not having a ring road,” Mr Barnes said. “We are trying to accommodate traffic that doesn’t want to pay the toll and instead comes through our town.”

Local man Donal O’Lochlainn agreed that the problem was traffic on the bridge.

“There should be legislation to remove the toll or compel trucks to use the bypass. Two lanes on the bridge would then be adequate,” he said.

Carrignagrochera resident Ronan Hickey said he would need to see detailed plans for what he called “a major change to the town”.

Michelle Slattery, from Beechfield, said she had mixed feelings about the proposed boardwalk.

“While I get the footpaths are narrow, I’m not sure how I feel about a metal structure attached to the side of the bridge, which is the focal point of the town. I would definitely need to see the plans and design.”