Limerick Council urged to carry out review of disabled parking spaces in city

The Council have been urged to review all the disabled parking spaces in the city.

LIMERICK City and County Council has been urged to carry out a full review of the 214 disabled parking spaces in Limerick City to ensure there are appropriate dished kerbs and road markings to enable wheelchair users to safely enter and exit their vehicles.

Speaking at January’s Metropolitan District meeting, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan told the Council executive that she has been contacted by a number of disabled people on the issue.

Cllr O’Donovan pointed out that a number of disabled parking spaces were removed with the revitalisation of O’Connell Street, and she felt “it’s time now to look at the disabled parking that we have in the city centre and see is it actually for wheelchair users”.

According to Cllr O’Donovan, there are three disabled parking spots in particular which are an issue.

“There is one on William Street where there is no dished kerb. If you exit a vehicle in a wheelchair, there’s nowhere to gain entrance onto the footpath except on Cruises Street. So it’s really dangerous,” the City West representative said.

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“I’ve also been told that there’s two parking spaces now near the prison that are on a bend, so they are actually unusable because it’s very dangerous to exit a vehicle on a bend.

“Similarly, on O’Callaghan Strand, there is a disabled space that is continually being used by the GoCar, so we need to look at where our disabled spaces are.”

Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney supported Cllr O’Donovan’s motion and told the Council executive that he wanted to see an active approach in relation to dishing all the footpaths.

“I have first-hand experience of trying to push someone around the city centre and getting in and out of cars. I think we’re spending so much money on other infrastructure that we’re actually forgetting about the pedestrians, the wheelchair users and people that don’t have the ability we’re privileged to have,” Cllr McSweeney commented.

Cllr Sarah Kiely (FG) also added her support to the proposal, calling for a presentation to be given at next month’s area meeting on the safety aspects of O’Connell Street.

“There are no facilities for disabled drivers and I believe there’s a real pedestrian safety issue where people are stepping into the cycle lane and we also need to reinstall the pedestrian crossing at Bedford Row,” Cllr Kiely insisted.

In response, Liam Browne of the Council’s Transportation and Mobility Directorate told Council members that an audit will be carried out of all disabled parking spaces in the Metropolitan District.

“Thereafter, if required, a remedial action plan will be coordinated,” he concluded.

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