Use of Station Rd for Cork Luas is ‘unacceptable’ says councillor

A Cork city councillor has set out his opposition to current plans for the Ballincollig section of the Cork Luas to use Station Road in a submission to Transport Infrastructure Ireland's public consultation process.

It comes as public consultation on the emerging preferred route closed on Monday at 5pm.

Sinn Féin councillor for Cork City South West, Joe Lynch, explained: “Having secured a dedicated public information event on the Cork Luas proposals for Ballincollig in May, attending a recent discussion hosted by Ballincollig Business Association, and engaging extensively with local residents, I have now made a submission to TII's public consultation process setting out my views.

“Whilst there is broad agreement that the Cork Luas can provide an important public transport link for Ballincollig, there are a number of serious concerns to be addressed with regards the proposed routing.

“Most crucially, it is very clear that the use of Station Road - as part of any future Cork Luas route - is unacceptable.

“Station Road is not a suitable location for Luas traffic and the installation of a one-way vehicular system given the number of schools, community facilities and residential estates located on the road itself and in the immediate vicinity. Simply put, this idea will not work.” He added that he also has “serious concerns” about the plan to remove the right-hand turn upon exiting Castlepark and the lack of shared road space along Ballincollig’s Main Street, but said “there are solutions to be found” for all of these issues.

Mr Lynch suggested: 

“Issues with the route through Ballincollig can be rectified by extending it westwards, avoiding the bottleneck that is Station Road and providing services for those of us who happen to live in the western end of Ballincollig; who are completely disregarded under current proposals.

“Indeed, one local resident remarked to me in recent days that ‘as currently proposed, the Cork Luas is about useful to the West Village as the Luas in Dublin’. He's not far wrong.”