Cork city councillors approve Black Ash bus interchange plans

Cork city councillors have unanimously voted to approve plans for a new bus interchange at Black Ash Park and Ride, which will facilitate an expansion of the city’s bus service.

Earlier this year, Cork City Council and the National Transport Authority announced that they would be seeking planning permission to develop the interchange at the Black Ash facility on Mick Barry Rd to allow for the expansion of bus services accessing the park and ride, and to facilitate the introduction of six new bus routes.

Route 6 from Grange Rd, Douglas Rd, to University College Cork (UCC) would use the planned interchange, as would route 13 from Cork Airport to Kent Railway Station, route 14 from Mahon Point to Cork University Hospital (CUH), route 23 from Old Youghal Rd to Ballyphehane, route 42x from Fountainstown/Carrigaline, and the 13b from Kinsale.

Connectivity

The interchange will create significant new connectivity between the city, county, and key locations such as CUH, UCC, Cork Airport, and Kent Railway Station.

The Black Ash Park and Ride facility currently features an administrative building, 940 car parking spaces, bike stands, and two operational bus bays.

The proposed development will provide “a minimum of” four additional bus bays, which will support the delivery of BusConnects Cork.

Overall, the plans aim to increase capacity and frequency of bus services, and thus reduce car dependence in the city.

There will also be new access and egress from the bus interchange onto Mick Barry Rd, new bus shelters, seating, landscaping, and sheltered cycle parking within the new facility as well as improved pedestrian and cycle access.

Submissions

A total of 14 submissions were received following a public consultation process, and in general, all were supportive of the scheme.

The bus interchange plans were unanimously approved at Monday night’s meeting of Cork City Council.

Labour councillor Peter Horgan called the plans “an important step forward”, and both he and Sinn Féin councillor Michelle Gould proposed linking in with the GAA to ensure there is suitable transport to matches.

Ms Gould also called for a similar facility to be opened on the northside of the city.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran also supported the development and called for solar panels for charging electric buses to be included as part of the plans.