‘Emmet Street madness’ - Council and Bus Éireann to meet

Cork County Council is to seek a meeting with Bus Éireann regarding traffic congestion and safety concerns on Emmet Street in Fermoy during school collection and drop off times.

Local councillor Noel McCarthy brought residents’ concerns before the council at this week’s Fermoy Municipal District meeting, noting that while the issue is an ongoing one, it has become worse as of recent.

In an article published in TheAvondhu last week, Cllr McCarthy described the collection time as ’30 minutes of madness’, a description which he also brought to the Fermoy MD.

“It’s just the parking arrangements this time that seems to be much busier than it was. There seem to be buses parked there all day now in the bus slot, they don’t seem to move.

“Some of the buses can’t get a space when they come up and they’re parking right along Emmet Street. The traffic then is blocked, people are trying to overtake the buses that are parked and it causes pandemonium for those thirty minutes,” Cllr McCarthy said.

STUDENTS’ CARS ADDING TO PROBLEM

According to the councillor, residents of Emmet Street, Devlin Street, Clancy Street and Redmond Street, are being majorly inconvenienced by the issue.

“You’d want to see it to believe the danger that’s involved in it. As a business in the area, I see it first hand every day. It really, really is a concern,” Cllr McCarthy added.

Residents are also further impacted by the increase in car ownership among older pupils at the school who are now driving into school and parking outside local residences in the area.

“That’s why I think the bus drivers are finding it very hard to get spaces. The buses were able to pull into the side on areas opposite but that’s gone now because of the extra cars that are using these streets,” Cllr McCarthy added.

Cllr McCarthy queried as to whether pupils of the Fermoy schools could find parking within the school grounds rather than on the streets and in front of local residences.

ONE-WAY SYSTEM NOT AN OPTION

In response to the motion, Senior Executive Engineer Brendan O’Gorman, said that he would try to set up a meeting with Bus Éireann to discuss the issues and observe the situation at peak times.

A written response issued by Mr O’Gorman to the motion noted that there is no local authority arrangement in place with Bus Éireann and that all bus drivers are commercial and professional drivers and their employers undertake risk assessments on all routes.

Mr O’Gorman noted that there is a ‘legacy’ bus set down area and bylaw on Emmet Street.

According to Mr O’Gorman, this legacy set-down is ‘generally respected by road users and is used correctly by buses’.

The legacy bus routes on Devlin Street and the White Wall are used by buses to coordinate a one-way system onto the Cork Road and loop around the south side of the town, which is a quick and efficient route according to Mr O’Gorman.

“Buses should not be using adjacent streets; Clancy Street and/or John Redmond Street as they are not wide enough for buses and do not facilitate passing traffic.

“We have looked at making these three streets one-way in the distant past to aid with congestion, but this was rejected by residents,” Mr O’Gorman said.