An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick Appendices

Limerick 2030 An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick
Accessibility/Connectivity/Legibility
In general terms Limerick City Centre is accessible – it is relatively close (20 minutes by car) to
Shannon Airport and it has good, high quality motorway connections to Dublin and other cities
and a railway station. The “Welcome” is however not as strong. The poor quality of arrival from key
gateways is widespread from the lack of recognition at Shannon Airport that Limerick would be a
primary point of destination, to the poor quality arrival by road (for example along Dock Road), to
the arrival at Colbert Railway Station which makes no attempt to accommodate the visitor nor
direct them to key places in the City Centre. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the
station is some distance (relatively) from the heart of the City Centre and there is no clear
connecting route.
It is essential for the success for the City Centre to address these first points of contact, creating a
welcoming and appealing environment. There is also a need to rationalise traffic routes and to
‘put people before vehicles’.
Despite the Georgian legacy of a grid system of wide longitudinal streets, narrower cross streets
intertwined by smaller alleys, Limerick City Centre is not as easily navigable as it should be. This is
largely a reflection of the attempts to accommodate the car, especially through the
implementation of a one way system, a lack of orientating spaces, a number of inappropriate
planning decisions and very poor pedestrian signage.
Despite the partial implementation of a public realm strategy which rightly seeks to make the City
more pedestrian friendly there is need for a holistic redressing of the balance in the City Centre in
favour of the pedestrian, over the car. The approach to achieving this may need to be
reconsidered. This may include alternatives to substantial pedestrianisation of the City Centre. It
does however mean a balanced consideration of the needs of through traffic, local traffic, public
transport provision, essential servicing and first and foremost the needs of the pedestrian –
resident, shopper, business person and tourist. Whilst the pedestrainised part of the City Centre has
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