Call for towing on re-developed Cork City's MacCurtain St to stamp out illegal parking
New Maccurtain On Recently Cllr Realm John Illegally St's Parking Public Maher Picture: Motorists
Towing should be used immediately to crack down on widespread illegal parking along an historic Cork City street which has been revamped to improve public transport.
Cork City Council and the gardaí have also been urged to significantly ramp up parking enforcement activity in the area, at weekends especially, to protect the vision for the new MacCurtain St area which has been re-developed as a vital bus corridor and where two-way traffic has been re-introduced for the first time in half a century.
Labour Cllr John Maher issued the call ahead of the official opening of the MacCurtain St public transport improvement scheme by the Tánaiste Micheál Martin on Saturday. It will be followed by a family fun event on the street.
“I am not trying to be negative,” Mr Maher said. “I am trying to get the best out of this project but people are breaking the law by parking on the new pavement and in the bus stops. And it’s being tolerated at certain times.
“This project was undertaken to improve the movement of public transport, pedestrians and cyclists but now, parts of it are like a free car park and there are little or no signs of enforcement.”
Two-way traffic has been introduced and new wide pavements have been installed on MacCurtain St as part of a multi-million public transport project in the wider area but motorists have been parking illegally on sections of the street's new pavement, and in bus stops.
Large planters have been installed to deter parking on the pavement in some areas but motorists are still flouting the law in other areas.
Mr Maher said the problem is particularly bad in the evenings and at weekends, outside of traffic warden hours and when the street is often at its busiest.
He raised the enforcement issue with gardaí at the northside community safety forum meeting on Tuesday and plans to raise it again with senior officers at the next Cork City Joint Policing Committee meeting.
Earlier this week, buses became the first westbound traffic on the street since the one-way system was introduced in 1968. The buses operated without passengers to give drivers a chance to familiarise themselves with the new street layout.
But Bus Eireann said the first scheduled services will begin using the new westbound route from Sunday, and it warned that some bus stops have been re-located, and new ones have been installed.
Routes 203, 215 and 248 will now operate via Bridge St and Coburg St both ways and will serve two new stops on Coburg St—a westbound stop from the city centre and an eastbound stop going towards the city centre. Mulgrave Rd and Upper John St will be served by routes 202 and 202a only.
Routes 207, 208 and 209 will operate via Bridge Street and MacCurtain Street both ways, with two new stops on Bridge St—a northbound stop from the city centre and a southbound stop leading towards the city centre. These routes will serve two new stops on MacCurtain Street—an eastbound stop from the city centre and a westbound stop towards the city centre.
Pedestrian access from this area to the bus station will be via Harley Street and the Mary Elmes Bridge.
Routes 205, 207a, 212, 214 will continue to operate via MacCurtain St eastbound, while inbound, these routes will continue to operate towards the city centre via the Brian Boru Bridge.
While regular traffic will be allowed to turn left from Brian Boru St onto MacCurtain St, westbound traffic should continue to use St Patrick’s Quay, traffic engineers said.