Kilkenny councillor welcomes traffic changes on Vicar Street and Green’s Bridge

Labour Party Councillor and local resident, Seán Ó hArgáin, has welcomed the proposed traffic management changes in the Vicar Street, St. Canice’s Place and Greensbridge and Green Street areas.

‘I am delighted to see that the change of Vicar Street to a one-way system is finally about to happen. It is clear to people like myself who use Vicar Street daily that it is not capable of accommodating two lanes of traffic safely. As a cyclist, I am frequently overtaken by cars travelling from the Irishtown end to Bambrick’s roundabout, only to overtake them seconds later at the roundabout. With the parking on the Eastern side of the street, there is considerably less than two normal lanes on the street. I believe the change to one way will make the street considerably safer and will hopefully lead to its regeneration, as it has become rundown in appearance in places.

'The council’s consultations with Transport for Ireland, TFI, which runs our local bus service has led to slight changes in the city bus route, which will now see the KK2 bus service travel over St. Francis Bridge, turning left onto Greensbridge Street and left onto Green’s Bridge for the outgoing bus service and the opposite route when incoming. This will lead to slight changes for residents of Vicar Street, who will have access to bus stops at St. Canice’s Place and Green’s Street, just a few minutes walk from them. It will also lead to better bus access for the residents of Greensbridge Street, Green’s Street and the surrounding areas, including New Road and Greenshill," he said.

'In relation to the buses now travelling on Green’s Bridge, I welcome the evidence from the council of the reduced traffic on the bridge, as a result of St. Francis Bridge providing an alternative route. If we still had only one bridge in the area, more than 16,000 vehicles, many of them heavy trucks would now be using the 260 year old bridge. Instead, that has now reduced to less than 9,000 vehicles a day. The removal of traffic coming out of the city centre along Vicar Street will considerably reduce that figure further and the hope is that much of that traffic will now use St. Francis Bridge to get to the Castlecomer Road and thart this will encourage them to make that switch when travelling in both directions.

'Finally, I have received assurances from the local engineer that there will be considerable improvement to the pedestrian crossing on Green’s Bridge, with a raised area slowing traffic from New Road onto the bridge. This, along with the long-overdue improvements to the pedestrian facilities on Green’s Bridge and hopefully, the restoration of the northern face of the bridge, should all lead to considerable improvements.

'Of course, only the completion of the Ring Road, particularly allowing St. Canice’s Roundabout to be connected to the Callan Road to Freshford Road section will really alleviate the traffic issues which continue to exist.’