Michael Moynihan: Doubling the flow of traffic down a narrow street makes little sense
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I previously wrote here about a primary school near where I live, one which had enjoyed a small victory in the not-so-small matter of pupil safety.
Our Lady of Lourdes NS in Ballinlough was looking to ensure that its pupils could cross the roads around the school safely — heavy traffic coming through the area made crossing those roads a fair challenge on many mornings, a challenge heightened by the now-traditional insistence of drivers defying the limiting effects of their own sunglasses by wedging their SUVs into the space reserved for (Remember the blood pressure, eh? — ed.) Anyway, the news was good for the school during the summer, when Cork City Council got in touch with them with plans to put those safety measures in place.
In the correspondence those measures might reasonably be titled the works. They included proposals for zebra crossings and coloured pavement surfaces, ‘table junctions’ and pedestrian crossings, improved footpaths, and improvements to public lighting, road markings, and road signage. All of it a tacit admission, you would think, of a problem that had to be solved; such wide-ranging improvement works would hardly be necessary somewhere that traffic wasn’t an issue.
So far so good, I hear you say. A problem arose and has now been dealt with. This is how civic society operates — a measured request is made, processed, and responded to, and the common good is now served by a safer environment for all concerned.
I refer to the consequences of the looming BusConnects plan, which proposes pretty significant changes to the traffic flow into and around the city.
One of those changes includes a bus gate on the Douglas Road which, if my laboured reading of the map is correct, will divert most of the traffic coming towards the city along the Douglas Road up through Bel Air estate, with the exception of buses, bicycles and taxis which will be able to continue towards the city centre. This bus gate will send the rest of that traffic through the zebra crossings, coloured pavement surfaces, and other new features which have recently been approved by the city council.
Once this massively increased flow of cars gets past the school there is then the option to hang a hard left turn down the slope of Wallace’s Avenue, a stretch of the city I know well.
As of now, it becomes a rolling car park at school drop-off and collection times, with cars facing a lengthy wait at the top and bottom of the thoroughfare while other cars disgorge kids at various points of the Avenue.
People who leave their front gates can sometimes meet a cyclist in full pelt coming down the footpath against them, meaning a swift leap backward is necessary to avoid being smeared on someone’s crossbars.
This is not to overstate the case. The stretch of road is not comparable with ; it’s just the cut and thrust of urban life. If you live in town then this is what you signed up for — the odd inconvenience, the occasional passing irritation. If you’re looking for the peace that surpasseth understanding then decamping to Alihies is probably a better option.
But doubling or tripling the flow of traffic down a narrow street seems ... well, ’counterintuitive’ is too gentle as a euphemism. It’s like planning a traffic network system via Google Maps.
The mission of BusConnects is ‘delivering a sustainable public transport network for the Cork Metropolitan Area’, according to its website, so it isn’t just a question of the route I’ve mentioned above.
In total there are twelve routes designed to deliver that network: A. Dunkettle to City; B. Mayfield to City; C. Blackpool to City; D. Hollyhill to City; E. Ballincollig to City; F. Bishopstown to City; G. Togher to City; H. Airport Road to City; I. Maryborough Hill to City; J. Mahon to City; K. Kinsale Road to Douglas and L. Sunday’s Well to Hollyhill.
One obvious starting point with this topic is acceptance. If you’re ‘delivering a sustainable public transport network’ which affects that much of the city, then there are people who’ll be discommoded by that network, either in its development or its operation. That’s the essential nature of change: people are affected and not always for the better.
With that in mind it’s worth considering that consultation is still an option for the BusConnects plan. A series of public meetings begin on September 13 at a variety of locations around the city, but you can also make a submission online here.
Viewing some of the submissions made already is an experience that underlines the point above about people and the concept of change.
When I logged on earlier this week the first three submissions which were visible pointed out (in order): “road expansion and bridge building which will result in the destruction of the Ballybrack Woods”, “the proposed plan will interfere with an old, historical wall along the Frankfield road”, and “I am concerned about the impact that this development will have on the amenities and biodiversity at the Mangala”.
This plan and the reaction to it serve as the perfect illustration of ideals and reality when it comes to significant urban change.
In the abstract everyone supports a more sustainable more regular, more client-friendly public transport system, one which gives people in Cork a serious alternative to relying on private cars to get around. Who wouldn’t be in favour of that?
Enough to be discommoded by heavier traffic generated in your area to facilitate buses serving the greater community good?
This is where principle collides with practicality, and some of those public consultation meetings scheduled for next week may be illuminating for those in attendance — the people on the stage fielding questions as well as the people in the audience posing those questions.
Credit where it’s due to those planning these changes for coming out to argue their case and to offer the rationale behind some of those plans, presumably.
It’s probably worth pointing out that the notion of consultation means asking for advice or opinion, strictly speaking; it doesn’t include a commitment to act on that advice. For that reason alone I’d be happy to see those new traffic calming measures near Our Lady of Lourdes NS installed sooner rather than later.7