*The proposal to make the Mill Rd has been scrapped.
PLANS to introduce a one-way traffic system to the Mill Road and to alter the Gort Rd roundabout by Ennis Hospital, McDonald’s and Lynch’s Centra have been scrapped.
Over 2,200 submissions were made by the public to the contentious draft of the Ennis local transport plan which had proposed introducing a one-way traffic system on the Mill Rd, the Old Mill Rd, Cornmarket Street and Considine’s Terrace and altering the Gort Rd roundabout to remove the lane by which motorists could access and exit the adjacent Business Park which is home to Lynch’s Centra, McDonald’s, Lana, Paddy Power Bookmakers, Elm Café and other enterprises.
Both of these proposals have now been removed from the Ennis local transport plan following strong backlash from the public and businesses in the locality. Elected representatives, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF), Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF), Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) and Cllr Pat Daly (FF) had been particularly vocal to object to the proposals.
Within the 118 page draft of the local transport plan, there was a total of 116 schemes proposed. Elected members of the Ennis Municipal District are to receive an updated report on what the revised plan looks like next month. Despite initially rejecting requests from Cllr O’Callaghan and Cllr Guilfoyle, Clare County Council at the end of June extended the public consultation period for the draft plan by two weeks.
Acting senior engineer in the Ennis MD, Paddy Tiernan confirmed on Monday that the one-way plans and alterations to the Gort Rd roundabout were removed from the plan.
He also outlined that the final draft was to recommend an independent pedestrian and cycling bridge which will retain the existing two-way traffic flow at Drehidnagower Bridge with no traffic lights. “This local transport plan has received unprecedented feedback which is what we want, we had over 2,200 respondents, it is fantastic that everyone is engaging with the plan, we are listening to what they are saying”.
Notices of motion have been tabled by Cllr O’Callaghan, Cllr Guilfoyle and Cllr Daly before the Ennis MD since July. The trio requested in September that alterations to the Gort Rd/Ennis Hospital roundabout be removed from the plan. Cllr O’Callaghan in July requested that all two-way traffic routes be maintained in Ennis Town. Clarity was sought by Cllr Guilfoyle in July on why plans for the Post Office Field and The Old Mill Rd were included in the draft. In a separate motion, he looked for information behind their plans for Drehidnagower Bridge. In July, Cllr O’Callaghan asked for the removal from the local transport plan of the paused Ennis 2040 projects in Abbey Street and Parnell Street.
As per the draft transport plan, the four-arm roundabout at the Gort Rd was to be made a three-arm roundabout removing the access and exit point for the Gort Rd shopping centre. “There was valid concerns raised by the businesses in the shopping centre, their concerns are well made and we’ve taken their concerns on board and the final local transport plan will not include the closure of any commercial access”. Some roundabouts in the town will be changed as part of the plan, he said without referring to specific examples.
Tiernan confirmed plans no longer exist for a one-way system on the Mill Rd, Carmody Street, Old Mill Rd and Considine’s Terrace. “A version of the local transport plan showed a one-way system for the Old Mill Rd, there is an old historic building and not enough space to build footpath, it generated a lot of feedback, we have listened, I can report the revised final draft of the local transport plan will retain the existing system and there are no longer any plans for a one-way system on Old Mill Rd, we met the owner of the property which is jutting out and causing a difficult, we will be able to work with the owner to provide two way traffic and a footpath”.
Ennis 2040 projects have not been omitted from the local transport plan. “The Chief Executive announced a review of the strategy (Ennis 2040) and he also announced a reviewed plan will be included in the upcoming variation of the County Development Plan and the local transport plan will be included as a chapter within the variation, therefore it is vitally important that all documents are aligned and signing off the same hymn sheet, with that in mind for Abbey Street, Parnell Street and the Post Office Field, all I can say is the outcome of the review will determine their inclusion or omission or otherwise in the local transport plan”.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the Physical Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), Cllr Guilfoyle welcomed the decision that “a lot of these contentious issues will be removed from the local transport plan and the three issues in the Ennis 2040 plan that are being reviewed and we wait on an update on them”. He stated, “these were very serious issues and the submissions made in the transport plan would underline that”. The Clarecastle representative said, “some of the things in the plan went against the motions which were passed unanimously in the Municipal District and the plan contradicted them. Not everything was rosy in the plan but it is getting a lot more rosier now”.
Cllr O’Callaghan commented, “There was over 2,000 submissions, this is a very big issue for the town which reflects for the whole county. There are genuine concerns within it, I flagged from the beginning that I felt we were rushing it, we are waiting for the town bus to come in which will be invaluable, there is only 2% of the population using bikes and we were going to rip up the whole town”. He said the Council should have been quicker when reacting to the issues flagged by businesses.
Expanding on his concerns over the Gort Rd roundabout proposal, he stated, “I had concerns on Gort Rd and changing access in and out, it is a direct attack on the existing business with over 200 people employed. Those units and the developer contributed significant money for the way it is designed, one of the traders gave detailed report which outlined any change would be detrimental to the survival of the business”.
Removing the one-way plans will bring a sense of “relief”, Cllr Daly noted. “The planned closure to the roundabout in the Gort Rd was very concerning, it is a busy shopping centre with McDonald’s, a restaurant, a butchers, the HSE, a bookie, a café and a very successful supermarket, they were very worried about this closure. 70 percent of this entrance accounts for the commercial activity in this centre”. He suggested the Road to Nowhere instead be examined as offering some relief to the traffic on the Gort Rd.
Former CEO of Ennis Chamber, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) felt the level of “robust” consultation and “huge response” was welcome. Models used for determining increased traffic flows need to be examined, she felt. “This is a bit of a chicken and egg situation with the bus service, it will have a very positive impact on the town so therefore are some of the plans premature without knowing the impact of the bus service on traffic flow because it will take a year for habits and journeys to change once bus is introduced. I also have concerns, I don’t know if emergency services have been consulted on this, we have the fire service on this side of town, the Garda Station on this side of town so if they are going west or north they come via this direction. We’re also in a fight for our lives with the HIQA report and there is an option on the redevelopment of our existing hospital which is a key location for this plan. We’re all looking for extra services and more health services to be available in Ennis”.
According to Tiernan, “it will be three to four years before we see a difference in traffic flow from the town bus, I don’t think we can wait two to three years with our plan, a lot of work has been done, we’re keen to finalise it. We are where we are with the critical routes around Ennis, there will be no one-way routes, our plans won’t cause an issue for emergency services”. He expressed confidence that the draft plan would be presented to the Ennis MD in December. He confirmed the Road to Nowhere would be included as “a strategic route” in the local transport plan.
“It is a critical plan for Ennis, we’ve seen the importance of some of the plans we have made,” Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) outlined. The town bus service will help Ennis, Cllr Conor Ryan (FG) believed while pointing out the “tremendous success” it has been in Portlaoise.
