THE University of Limerick (UL) should encourage students to journey to the city by bus, train, or bicycle.
That was the view of one councillor during the March meeting of the Metropolitan District.
Labour councillor Elena Secas called on Mayor John Moran and the Director General of Limerick City and County Council, Dr Pat Daly, to liaise with UL and An Garda Síochána with a view to setting up a task force to address parking problems in residential areas around the university.
“With the increasing number of students, staff, and visitors, parking has become a major safety concern for local residents, leading to congestion, huge inconvenience, and huge frustration,” Cllr Secas declared.
“Local residents find the parking situation hazardous and extremely dangerous. In the mornings, most junctions are blocked with cars on double yellow lines, parked on grass verges and footpaths. Children attending the local primary school have to walk on the road and two weeks ago the fire brigade had great difficulty entering the Milford Grange estate.”
Cllr Secas added that some elderly residents are frightened to leave their homes. She also suggested that traffic wardens are being flouted as drivers simply move to other estates when they are ticketing.
“The neighbourhood has become an overflow car park for UL and this is not what these estates were designed for,” the Labour councillor said.
Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle seconded Cllr Secas’ motion, saying: “When I cycle through the UL campus, I see the beautiful layout of the car parking where they don’t tolerate cars parked all over the place and they have signs up threatening clamping. And then I cycle through the residential areas adjacent to UL where there’s seven students in semi-detached houses and the roads are all clogged up.”
The Fine Gael man said that councillors are “left to address the problem when the core of the problem is the students”.
He also claimed UL has “put their head in the sand” and is ignoring the problem.
“UL should tell their students to carshare and encourage their students to come to Limerick in busses, trains or bicycles,” Cllr Doyle suggested.
Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Pond added that: “We’re tired of ringing the guards and they tell you to send out a traffic warden. A traffic warden can’t come out until nine o’clock in the morning.”
He further stated that “there’s instances where ambulances can’t get up to housing estates. There’s instances where bin lorries can’t get up. I have one lady whose bin wasn’t collected for three weeks. Something has to be done.”
Independent councillor Ursula Gavan, who works at UL, pointed out that Limerick is a university city, first and foremost. She was also of the opinion that this was a citywide issue, with similar concerns raised around University Hospital Limerick.
“We don’t have the public transport to bring students in on busses. That’s on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. You have not provided it. You have not given them the money for the accommodation. You have not given them the money for the transport, so you’ve left students in limbo,” Cllr Gavan hit out.
Cathaoirleach of the Metropolitan District, Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran O’Hanlon, did not appreciate Gavan’s comments, telling her: “Don’t try to make a political football on this issue. Don’t try to make political capital out of it.”
Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara interjected to say of the Council chamber: “This is the most political room in Limerick. I mean, if politics can’t come in here, I don’t know what we’re doing here.”
