2020 Vision for Athy - Entire Document - Kildare.ie

oad space should be mindful of the needs of other town users apart from traffic movement. The development of
the Inner Relief Street should offer an enhanced focus on the pedestrian thereby creating opportunities for
increased informal contact with suitable design creating ability for shops to open out onto streetscape with the
incorporation of seating adjacent cafes and restaurants. The new street should be suitably soft and hard landscaped
to provide a pleasant town centre environment and to reflect its location close to both the river and canal.
Opportunities are available to develop between Inner Relief Street and Duke Street particularly with reference to
Convent Lane and the river frontage. These four aspects create an opportunity to develop a vibrant urban block
incorporating redevelopment along the river frontage with a river bank walk and commercial frontage facing the
river. This will complement the historical aspect of Emily Square and the river frontage on the opposite river bank.
The redevelopment on the west river bank along with the restoration of the historic walls would add significant
amenity value to the town wide river and canal walking route.
The Triangle
Proposed new Civic Space around Dominican Church on the
Inner Relief Street acts as a ‘gateway’ for access from the
Triangle Site. The expanse of the site in addition to its strategic
location in relation to the town’s natural amenities allows for
maximum permeability to the pedestrian and cyclist. The
redevelopments of the triangle will allow for the creation of a
number of attractive river and canal walks. The development of
this site offers opportunities to develop a direct pedestrian link
from the Ardrew area to the town centre.
Emily Square
Emily Square offers an exciting opportunity to provide a new
civic focus in the heart of the town. The reduction in vehicular movements in the area in addition to the removal of
a substantial quantum of parking provision will create opportunities for enhanced pedestrian movements to and
through the area. Furthermore the square boasts a unique composition of interconnecting public spaces lending
itself to public use. Pedestrianisation with frontage on to the river area incorporating appropriate landscaping and
seating will further enhance the sense of a civic environment as a town focal point with frontage on to the river.
Shaw’s Square
The development of the inner relief street together with the vision of developing a continuous river front walk on
the west bank of the Barrow offers the opportunity to reclaim Shaw’s Square as a predominantly pedestrian
environment providing linkage from the north west of the town to the town centre and complementing the
development of St John’s Lane. The development of the proposed pedestrian footbridge across the Barrow to the
north of Shaw’s Square will enhance access into the Square and therefore contribute to its ultimate vibrancy.
Objective 10 Minimise car access and through traffic through the town through the utilisation of key
road links.
Within Athy, a number of key perimeter and distributor routes have been identified to facilitate the movement of
vehicles through the town. These route options have been tested using the SATURN and MEPLAN traffic
modelling packages to ensure that the appropriate traffic uses the appropriate routes and further details of the
modelling outputs are given in section 9.4 which includes further considerations regarding the southern bypass
options.
The model assessments indicate the need for a southern bypass of the town by 2016 to facilitate traffic travelling in
an east-west direction. The creation of this route would perform the following key functions:
• Alleviate congestion on the N78 and proposed Inner Relief Street
• Facilitate traffic travelling to and from the potential N9 link road
Athy IFPLUT Study 102 Final Report December 2004