— Residents say they are experiencing aggression from motorists on the road to be calmed by the project.
Limerick City and County Council has told this website that it is working on the detailed design of South Circular Road project and that it will tender for the construction work once the design work is finished.
A revised design for the project was agreed upon in February 2023; it included retaining more parking by reducing traffic on a section of the project using filtered permeability. At the time, the council said that construction would be expedited to start in 2024.
However, while the council was not definitive on the start date for the construction this week, it is understood that finishing the detailed design and then tendering for the project will likely delay the start of construction until 2025.
IrishCycle.com asked the council questions after residents complained that motorists had been acting dangerously and aggressively on the road.
Eoin Buckley, tweeted: “Another 12 months (!) on with no change on the South Circular Road. Didn’t take long for an impatient motorist to rev/tailgate me and my 9-year old all along by Mary Immaculate and then beep continuously because I stopped at the zebra crossing to let a child cross.”
Aine Farrell wrote: “Another school year starts with no changes to South Circular Road. Twice in the past 12 months, I was nearly knocked off my bike, and my daughter was narrowly missed by a speeding driver who ignored the pedestrian crossing (a common occurrence). Why is the South Circular Road active travel scheme taking so long?”
A spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said: “A Part 8 planning application for the South Circular Road Active Travel Scheme was approved by elected members of the Metropolitan District of Limerick in February 2023. The Scheme will be approximately 2.6km in length.”
“Since the Scheme was approved, work on Detailed Design has been ongoing from engineering staff within the Active Travel Limerick team via assistance from the project consultants. Given the long and complex nature of the project, the Detailed Design process is taking time,” the spokesperson said.
The council said that each junction of the scheme is being assessed individually in respect of the detailed design process and that it is also working on the detailed design for kerbs, footways, paved areas, and landscaping.
Limerick City and County Council said that radar counters have been installed to “measure mobility levels in the area” and that this data is “continuing to be gathered and analysed by the team and is informing the Detailed Design process.”
It said that the project was allocated €500,000 from the National Transport Authority in 2024 and that, as the project progresses, the allocation is expected to be larger next year.
The council’s spokesperson added: “It is anticipated that construction on the project will begin when this Detailed Design process is completed and following the outcome of a tender process for a construction contractor.”
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It seems to me that councils around the country a ticking boxes by spending taxpayer funds willy-nilly.
Roscrea is a prime example. A segregated bicycle track has been installed from one roundabout to another. This stretch of road little more than 1km in length, if that, ans is not or is seldom used by bicycle users.
Although, it is a safe track, it would not be a priority, as it links only roundabouts enabling motorists to bypass the town centre.
The cycling public and pedestrians need safe paths to and from their homes ,schools, shops and recreation zones and more. Not on ring roads designed for motorised transport.
This is where councils need to be spending the allocated funds.
And they should be made accountable for wasting public money.