Limerick's O’Connell Street to be 'handed over' to council by the weekend
CONTRACTORS will officially ‘hand over’ the revitalised O'Connell Street to the council by this weekend.
Councillors were told in a private briefing that after more than two years of construction work, construction personnel will largely vanish from the city centre's main thoroughfare, which has undergone a €9.1m revamp.
Wider footpaths have been put in place to facilitate people gathering, on-street trading and 'spill-out zones' from shops and cafes.
Street furniture and plants have been provided, while dedicated cycle lanes are in place. At present, there's a bus lane and one lane of general traffic down the thoroughfare.
This could change, however, if National Transport Authority (NTA) plans to introduce a dedicated two-way bus corridor go ahead.
There has been criticism of the length of time the project has taken to complete from a number of quarters - including notably Limerick Chamber, which represents many of the traders along the route.
Work began in June 2021 and was scheduled to complete last November. Instead, it's taken more than two years to get to this stage.
Amid this timeframe, councillors were invited to a briefing. “A lot of detail was gone through,” said metropolitan district leader Cllr Olivia O'Sullivan who chaired it, “It took more than two-and-a-half hours, and was a good opportunity to get into the nitty gritty.”
One thing which emerged from the meeting is the fact the local authority is seeking funding from the government to have a three-person crew dedicated to keeping O'Connell Street clean.
Until then, the local authority will be ensuring its own crew keeps the thoroughfare clean and free of debris.
One councillor said there had been complaints about the condition of the granite.
“There was a common theme around how dirty it is, not from litter, but from the straining on the granite. That basically we need to be assured it was going to be power-washed and the staining comes off,” said the councillor, who did not wish to be named.
Councillor O'Sullivan said €500,000 earmarked for the artwork proposed for the chicane in the main thoroughfare had “timed out”, meaning if a fresh project is required there, a new stream of funding would need to be sought.
Councillor Sarah Kiely called for a pedestrian crossing linking Bedford Row and Thomas Street to be reinstalled.
It's understood that a safety audit will take place to look at this.
She said the O'Connell Street project has been “the perfect storm”, pointing out it took place initially against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, problems in the building materials supply chain, and a lack of communication from the local authority.
But we are hoping now we can move on, let business get back to normal, and get people back into our city,” concluded the City East member.
Limerick City and County Council did not return a request for comment.