Cobh will be first Cork town to let people pay for parking by phone
Picture Minihane Denis
Cobh is to become the first town in Co Cork to roll out a parking app which will allow people to pay for parking in the harbourside town via their phone.
Meanwhile, plans are being drawn up to deter a huge number of HGVs from dodging motorway tolls by passing through Watergrasshill where they present a major risk to pedestrians and school children.
Cobh Municipal District officer Padraig Lynch said once the app is trialled, he expects it to become operational in the next week to 10 days and it will then be rolled out in other pay parking towns in the county.
The app has also been synchronised to existing software which details current parking bylaws in the town.
Mr Lynch said it is the county council’s intention to then roll the app out to the six other towns where pay parking is in force — Youghal, Kinsale, Bandon, Macroom, Fermoy, and Mallow.
Meanwhile, Cobh Municipal District Council members heard that local authority engineers have drawn up plans to counteract the large number of HGVs passing through Watergrasshill and avoiding tolls on the M8 Cork-Dublin motorway.
Many of the large trucks pass the local national school and speeding vehicles have also become a concern in the village. Footpaths have also being badly damaged by HGVs parking on them.
Engineers plan to upgrade and widen footpaths to narrow the road and slow down traffic. Additional road safety signs will be erected and bollards will be installed in some parts of the village to prevent parking, which in cases is also obstructing oncoming motorists’ vision.
To compensate for the loss of some spaces, more will be designated on the outskirts of the village core.
Safety improvements will also be undertaken at the Glenville road junction and at the Condonstown junction, to the north of the village.
The latter is close to the GAA pitch and is used extensively by large trucks servicing the nearby Kepak meat packing plant.
A designated turning lane will be created there as part of the safety plan.
Senior executive engineer Ger O’Hora said all the plans are likely to go out for public consultation in August and the council will welcome suggestions from locals on them.
He said the main cause of congestion in the village is created by the large volume of HGVs passing through it.
Independent councillor Ger Curley and Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen both expressed some concern that the loss of parking spaces in the village centre could have a negative impact on local businesses.
Fianna Fail councillor Sheila O’Callaghan, who lives in Watergrasshill, expressed concern about ‘build outs’ of footpaths as they might make it very difficult for farm machinery to get in and out of the village on the Glenville road.
However, she said she appreciated that at present this junction “is a blind corner for pedestrians” and does need safety upgrade work.