COUNCILLORS have been informed that €207,577 has been spent to date in advancing the Wickham Street to Clare Street Active Travel Scheme.
Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney asked for a full breakdown of costs to progress the scheme between October 2022 and March 2025 at this month’s Metropolitan District meeting.
The project, being delivered by Limerick City and County Council and funded by the National Transport Authority, is proposed to connect the Colbert Station Quarter to Park Canal and the University of Limerick via a pedestrian and cycle facility.
It is also intended to facilitate onward future active travel connections to the National Technology Park, Annacotty, Castleconnell, and Scarriff.
The breakdown of the €207,577 includes €90,054 on consultancy fees to advance the statutory process, €27,060 on economic assessment, €10,741 on a parking survey, €23.84 on administration costs, and €934 on legal fees.
A further €200 was spent on photo montages, €11,931 on photomontages and a virtual room and report, €942 on public events, €2,152 on a road safety audit, €15,884 on staff salary and costs, €30,550 on a topographical survey, and €15,718 on traffic modelling.
Four potential route options were considered for pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, with the ‘Yellow Route’ ultimately chosen for the cycle facilities in two directions between Wickham Street and Clare Street via High Street, Mungret Street, and Broad Street.
The route would finish on Clare Street and connect to the Park Canal, with the overall aim of connection the Colbert Station Quarter and the University of Limerick.
A Council spokesperson said that “the decision follows a period of non-statutory public consultation, traffic surveys, parking surveys and the compiling of an economic assessment report on the proposals, which has been conducted by a third party outside of Limerick City and County Council. This Economic Assessment involved directly engaging with both businesses and consumers on the proposed project routes in the form of questionnaires and surveys.”
“Limerick City and County Council’s Active Travel department is continuing to work closely with other departments within the local authority, to ensure the scheme runs in tandem with the overall development of the area, including the proposed Market Quarter and Cruises Street Public Realm Upgrade Works.”
