Council publishes 'very significant proposals' for Cork town

CORK County Council has published new proposals for active travel routes, footpaths, improved junctions, and further public transport provision for Carrigaline.

The proposals are included in a Part VIII consultation about the Carrigaline Transportation and Public Realm Enhancement Plan which, according to local Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath, is the next-step transformation of what was once a village with around 1,000 inhabitants to being a town with a population of around 20,000 people.

Scheme 

The scheme involves the construction of a number of sustainable transport interventions in Carrigaline to facilitate enhanced pedestrian, cyclist, and bus movement and includes cycle tracks, wider footpaths, new entry treatments, new car parking, adjustments to roundabouts, junctions, and signage, and improved active travel connectivity.

Mr McGrath described the plans, published on the Cork County Council website, as “very significant proposals”.

“They have a very widespread reach across Carrigaline and include a number of areas and roads within the town,” he said. He added that the budget for the project, which comes after a significant public-realm project which would upgrade the town centre, had not yet been finalised as the consultation process was just beginning, but it would be a “multi-million euro investment in terms of an active travel network in Carrigaline”.

“It’s very much focused on the town footprint within the settlement of Carrigaline, the built-up area, and it’s essentially trying to improve active travel connectivity, upgrading footpaths and cycleways,” he said. “Carrigaline was obviously a village that developed quite quickly. Many of our footpaths are quite narrow and are unable to cater for the volumes of people that use them.

“Take, for example, the Lower Kilmoney Rd, where you have a very narrow footpath adjacent to an extremely busy road where you have buses and other vehicles using it. This plan will make it a more ‘user-friendly’ town in terms of people walking and cycling.

“Obviously the plan will also deal with vehicular movement and trying to make the junctions more efficient and manage the traffic issue in Carrigaline, which has historically been a huge problem.”

Consultation 

The councillor said that the plan was not infallible, but stressed that it was vitally important that people made submissions about the plan to the county council.

“A key point I want to make is I strongly encourage people to engage in this process,” he said.

“Take the time to look at it; there’s a lot of detail in it. By no means am I saying that everything is right or perfect in the plan.

“This is a draft plan, it’s open to consultation, please send in your feedback and send in your submissions.”

The plan is available to view on the Cork County Council website. The deadline for submissions is December 22.