Cork's MacCurtain St proves illegal parking blackspot in new traffic warden pilot scheme

Almost half of all fines issued as part of an out-of-hours traffic warden pilot scheme were handed out on MacCurtain St.

Data provided to Green Party councillor for Cork City North-East Oliver Moran by David Joyce, director of services at roads/environment operations at Cork City Council, showed there have been 368 fixed-charge penalty notices issued on Sundays and 101 issued in evenings as part of the pilot.

Mr Joyce explained: “The pilot is ongoing until the end of the year. 

“To date, a total of 469 fixed-charge penalty notices have been issued during the additional periods and tickets to the value of €24,365 have been paid to the council, with the out-of-hours work costing an estimated €23,881.”

Mr Joyce said a review of certain streets is being undertaken with a view to putting in place physical infrastructure to mitigate against illegal parking on evening and weekends.

He added: “When in place, the number of fines issued during this pilot process would be anticipated to reduce by approximately 40%.”

Almost 45% of the total fines issued were on MacCurtain St.

Of the 145 fines issued for parking on footpaths on Sundays, 132 were on MacCurtain St, while 59 fines were issued for this reason during the evenings in total, 56 of which were on MacCurtain St.

The 368 total Sunday figures include 16 on Parnell Place, 13 on South Mall, 146 on Patrick St, seven on St Patrick’s Quay and 14 on Grand Parade. 

A breakdown of offences shows that on Sundays 152 fines were issued for being the wrong vehicle class, 128 of which were on Patrick St.

Some 17 fines were issued for parking in a disabled parking bay; five for parking in a bus stop; 15 for parking in an area with a no parking sign; 11 for not having a current licence disc displayed; five for parking in a set-down area, and three for parking on double yellow lines.

In the evenings, there were 101 fines issued in total — 23 for failure to display a valid parking disc and five each for parking in a disabled bay, at a bus stop, and in an area with a no parking sign.

Mr Moran said: “What the data shows is how the issue of illegal parking stands out on MacCurtain St in particular.

“There’s no need for footpath parking on MacCurtain St. 

“There are over 800 legal off-street parking bays in the immediate area, including one car park that opens directly onto the street for pedestrians. These are the same price or cheaper than on-street parking,” he said.

“While the out-of-hours pilot is self-financing, officials are now having to look at ways to modify the layout of the street to prevent illegal parking.

“That’s disappointing given that so much money was already invested in the redesign of the street.”