Almost 1000 public views to feed into Cork Luas next steps

About a thousand people contributed to the recent Cork Luas public consultation, with the team behind the scheme outlining the next steps for the project.

In April, the emerging preferred route for Luas Cork, an 18km light rail line connecting Ballincollig to Mahon Point, was unveiled, with a public consultation process for the plans closing on June 9.

The route includes stops at key locations including Munster Technological University, Cork University Hospital, University College Cork, and the city centre; a new public transport bridge connecting Kent Station to Kennedy Quay; and enhanced cycling infrastructure.

A spokesperson for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), which is leading the project, said the public consultation process generated about a thousand submissions. “These are now being assessed and evaluated and will form an integral part of how the project moves forward from here. A report based on the submissions received will be published in the autumn.

“The Luas Cork team would like to thank all those who made submissions, those who attended the open days, and all who contributed to ensuring that the consultation was robust, positive, and very fruitful.”

The spokesperson added that TII has committed to some further assessments that will need to be carried out to allow the development of the emerging preferred route, including analysing submissions and producing a consultation report with a summary of the feedback received.

Undertaking sensitivity tests on the emerging preferred route to understand if there are any areas of the route which can be further optimised (and altered if needed), and assessment of traffic movements to enable the development of a strategy to reduce congestion levels, will also be carried out.

“TII welcomes the overwhelming support it has received from all aspects of the local community in Cork and looks forward to working collaboratively with those stakeholders who have raised issues so that accommodations that works for all can be achieved,” the spokesperson said.