'Important that road space is used for efficient transport in rapidly growing Cork city'

CORK city councillor Oliver Moran (Greens) has outlined his submissions on the second round of public consultation on BusConnects Cork, the NTA’s plan to improve bus services throughout the city and suburbs.

This proposal, to develop 11 sustainable transport corridors (STCs), is currently at public consultation stage.

“Since the last round of consultation there are new proposals for a quietway on Middle Glanmire Road, and other issues have come to the fore,” Cllr Moran said in a statement.

"It is very important that the views of transport users are listened to and prioritised above less efficient use of road space in a rapidly growing city.”

Mr Moran highlighted the need to reduce transport emissions in Cork, with ambitious targets already set.

“It is important that a holistic picture of the transport plans, that are under the National Transport Authority, are presented to the public as a vision for transport in the city and progressed on a similar timeline to BusConnects,” he added.

“This includes the re-opening of a Blackpool railway station, the northern distributor road, and a park-and-ride at Blarney, as part of the Cork-to-Limerick scheme.

“Across the city, it will be very important for clarity and adherence that bus gates are enforced through automatic rising bollards as opposed to camera enforcement.

“This is a fairer and more visible system to restrict private motor traffic, without motorists incurring inadvertent fines, while still allowing bus, taxi, cycle and emergency traffic to pass.”

Mr Moran said the proposals for the STC A are welcome, and the proposals for STC B are also welcomed “with some tweaks over the proposed designs for Colmcille Avenue”.

“I support the proposals for Blackpool and encourage continued communication with residents and traders after the formal consultation period,” he stated, concerning STC C.