THE need for a school bus service for the Raheen, Dooradoyle and Mungret area was brought to the attention of Limerick City and County Council this week.
Speaking at Monday’s meeting of the Metropolitan District of the local authority, Cllr Daniel Butler pointed out to the council executive that the area has four primary schools and two secondary schools supporting 3,000 to 4,000 students.
“The area itself is growing, meaning our schools are completely full,” the Raheen-based councillor said.
“Currently we can see in the area a significant growth in the level of traffic at peak times in particular driven by local employers in Raheen Business Park, UHL, Crescent Shopping Centre, and of course school time traffic. The area is at a standstill and the new Phase 1 and 2 of the LIHAF (Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund) road due for completion by the end of March will not have a major impact until Phase 3 is added to link onto the Patrickswell Road,” he added.
Cllr Butler requested a school bus service that follows the natural circular routes in the area to collect and drop children to school in the mornings, reducing traffic on the roads and getting children to school safely.
“This is something that parents in the area have been calling for in recent times. It would be of huge support to those parents and students to see this happening and go some way to reducing traffic, carbon emissions, and stress for those involved. This of course coupled with active travel modes is a key to the way forward in this,” he concluded.
