TO alleviate congestion in the city centre, it was proposed by councillors this week to allow traffic travelling on Thomas Street to cut through Foxes Bow onto William Street.
At this Monday’s meeting of the Council’s Metropolitan District, Fianna Fáil councillor Fergus Kilcoyne called on the local authority to consider reversing the one-way traffic system at the city laneway.
Allowing traffic from Thomas Street to flow across to William Street through Foxes Bow, he believes, would alleviate some of the city’s traffic issues.
“It would massively decrease the problem if the traffic flow on Thomas Street was reversed, which means you would come across Foxes Bow, which is about 40 metres long, and you wouldn’t have a problem getting onto William Street,” Cllr Kilcoyne suggested.
“There’s never traffic congestion on William Street, so all it would take is a small stroke of a pen.”
Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin seconded the motion, taking the view that if the Council closed access to traffic at Todd’s Bow – where “we can’t swing a cat anyway”, he said – and reversed the one-way system at Foxes Bow, traffic volume would be reduced.
He suggested that Todd’s Bow in turn “should be closed off apart from deliveries, and then people will have a real pedestrian feel for that area of town”.
Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara raised concerns that reversing the one-way system on Foxes Bow would have detrimental impact on the “quiet, pedestrian-friendly” laneway.
“It’s mostly car free, which is a rarity. I’d love to see it being pedestrianised like Little Catherine Street. My worry is that the change of direction to traffic flow would make Foxes Bow busier,” he said.
Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle also expressed concerns around excessive traffic passing through the lane and requested that the Council consult with businesses before proceeding any further.
”It really is only a pedestrian street, and an extremely narrow one at that,” he said.
Liam Browne, from the Council’s Transportation and Mobility Directorate, told Council members that vehicular access to Foxes Bow from William Street is limited to between the hours of 6am and 11am Monday to Saturday, with no access permitted from Thomas Street.
The route, he said, is further constrained by an archway over the road at the Thomas Street end preventing access to higher vehicles from this side.
