'Village within a city': Proposals for Cork city area include one-way streets and a new park

Public consultation for the Mary St, Douglas St, and White St public realm enhancement scheme opens tomorrow. Cork City Council said the proposals seek to enhance the South Parish area, aiming to restore its “village within the city”.

Following the consultation process, the scheme is expected to be brought before councillors later this year, with an aim to begin construction in late 2026 or early 2027.

The area is currently known for its narrow streets, high traffic volumes, and limited public spaces. The proposed upgrades include pedestrian zones, one-way traffic systems, rationalisation of parking, enhanced public spaces, and landscaping.

The scheme also includes a new neighbourhood pocket park at the eastern end of Douglas St.

Cork City Council will open the Part 8 planning public consultation tomorrow, with observations accepted up until Monday August 25.

Among the proposals are the conversion of a number of streets into one way systems, including: Douglas St into a one-way east bound street between the junctions of Dunbar St and Rutland St; Meade St into a one-way south bound street; Drinan St into a one-way north bound street; Cove St into a one-way east bound street between the junctions with Meade St and Drinan St; Cove St into a one-way west bound street between the junctions with Mary St and Gould's Square; and White St to a one-way south bound street. A number of cul-de-sacs are also proposed.

Contraflow cycle facilities are to be provided to allow two-way cycle access along one-way streets for portions of Cove St, Mary St, Red Abbey St, Dunbar St and Douglas St.

The junctions at Friar St and Evergreen St, and Evergreen St and Abbey St, will be realigned to provide traffic calming measures and provide controlled and uncontrolled pedestrian crossing points.

The introduction of a small city park on the eastern end of Douglas St is also among the plans, as is removing vehicle access to and from Douglas St from the junction with Langford Row.

An upgrade of Red Abbey Square is also included in the proposals. This would entail traffic calming along Red Abbey St, the removal of railings around Red Abbey Tower and the introduction of enhanced landscaping and lighting measures.

The introduction of the TFI shared bike scheme is also proposed for Abbey Street.

Bike parking, seating and enhanced lighting are other elements of the plan, as is the undergrounding of all overhead cables throughout the scheme.

The project team undertook several rounds of public consultation and used the feedback to develop the proposed scheme. 

Two further public consultation open days during this consultation period will be held in Nano Nagle Place, where members of the public can view the plans, meet members of the design team and make their submissions. 

These events will take place on Friday June 20 and Friday July 4 from 9.30am to 7pm.

Full details of the scheme, the drawings, and associated images will be available to view on the Cork City Council consult platform on https://consult.corkcity.ie from tomorrow.

Observations and comments will be accepted up until Monday August 25.

The South Parish area is one of the oldest inhabited parts of the city. 

Settlements in the area date back to the 10th Century and the Red Abbey, Cork's oldest surviving medieval structure, was built in the late 13th or early 14th century.