City Improvements

Aidric

Hi All, long time reader, first time poster.
I've lived in Limerick for near 8 years now and i love my city. It's heartening to see the improvements that have occurred in the last few years, in particular on the riverside and the continued pedestrianisation of the city centre. My question is, what improvements do you feel could be made to improve further the appearance of the city, in particular the city centre? I think a few small steps could go a long way. In particular the council need to upgrade the footpaths as a priority. The new paving on bedford row, thomas st etc is really pleasing on the eye and makes a huge diffrence. The paving on O Connel St, William St, however is completely shabby and compares horribly with all other cities in Ireland.
Furthermore I think all businesses should be responsible for the upkeep of their railings and basements. A lot of the properties on O Connell St and Catherine St look terrible and in need of work.
I could go on and on but I'd like to hear what other people think.

Poxyshamrock

William Street needs doing up, in every way.
O'Connell St needs to be paved aswell, that tarmac is horrible and also it gets full of water when it rains.

Brown Thomas should be knocked, or at least given a new front (back and sides).

Bedford Row is real nice though.
That sale shop annoys me however.

Aidric

Lets call a spade a spade, William St is a shambles. I heard from a reliable source recently that Brown Thomas will be knocked. I believe they are looking at setting up in the new Opera centre.

gaf1983

Good idea for a thread, OP.

I'd like to see Chilli Kebabish on Ellen St expand for a start so they could have tables for people to have sit down meals.

The pathway along the Canal Bank and then out to UL along the river could possibly be improved. The metal barriers in place just by the Park Road are really annoying. I know they were put in their to stop scooters race along the path, but they're annoying for wheelchair users and cyclists alike.

A retractable roof over the whole city for days like today and summers like last "summer".

Maps of the city bus routes on bus stops. More bus shelters.

Karmafaerie

Most of these issues have already been adressed.
(Except for the retractible roof!!!:p)
William St is next on the chopping block.
As soon as the work on Catherine St/Thomas St is completed, they're going to start on William St.

The footpaths will be widened, there'll be two lanes of traffic with no onstreet parking.
New lamposts, bins, and underground cabling.
The North side (Centa side) will have a row of trees going along the pathway.
Supposidly the council is planning grants for the building owners to upgrade/clean up the facades also, but not sure on that.
There will be two loading areas only for parking, and the bus stop.




After that the pedestrianising of O'Connell St is due to start.
With Pedestrianisation from the William St, to the Roches St junction, and wider footpaths from there up to the Crescent.





Also widening of the paths on Patrick St from William St to Denmark St.


Not to mention the plans to knock Roches, Dunnes, Arthurs Quay, and Liddy St.




All in all, things look good for the future.

1huge1

I agree with what has been said about william st, for such a central location it really is a shambles.

While what Karmafaerie said does sound very good, im really wondering if the money is there for it at the moment.

Millie

That's great news about William Street as not living to far away it will make my evening strolls more enjoyable.

Karmafaerie

1huge1 wrote: »

I agree with what has been said about william st, for such a central location it really is a shambles.

While what Karmafaerie said does sound very good, im really wondering if the money is there for it at the moment.

Short answer.
Yes.

Limerick is growing while the rest of the country is grinding to a halt.
Very little of the money for Limericks recent improvements (with the exception of the Shunnel) is government funded.
Mostly the council and private developers.
The "ressesion" won't effect the plans unless the world really slows down.

Karmafaerie

Millie wrote: »

That's great news about William Street as not living to far away it will make my evening strolls more enjoyable.

Same here.
I find myself going out of my way to walk along the strands, or Bedford Row nowadays.
Such a change from a few years ago.

lockman

"Furthermore I think all businesses should be responsible for the upkeep of their railings and basements. A lot of the properties on O Connell St and Catherine St look terrible and in need of work."

An excellent suggestion and one that should be implemented. In a lot of the buildings, a simple lick of paint could improve them no end.

Karmafaerie

lockman wrote: »

"Furthermore I think all businesses should be responsible for the upkeep of their railings and basements. A lot of the properties on O Connell St and Catherine St look terrible and in need of work."

An excellent suggestion and one that should be implemented. In a lot of the buildings, a simple lick of paint could improve them no end.

Very true.

Some of the places on Catherine st are a disgrace!

The Analyst

Aidric wrote: »

Hi All, long time reader, first time poster.
I've lived in Limerick for near 8 years now and i love my city. It's heartening to see the improvements that have occurred in the last few years, in particular on the riverside and the continued pedestrianisation of the city centre. My question is, what improvements do you feel could be made to improve further the appearance of the city, in particular the city centre? I think a few small steps could go a long way. In particular the council need to upgrade the footpaths as a priority. The new paving on bedford row, thomas st etc is really pleasing on the eye and makes a huge diffrence. The paving on O Connel St, William St, however is completely shabby and compares horribly with all other cities in Ireland.
Furthermore I think all businesses should be responsible for the upkeep of their railings and basements. A lot of the properties on O Connell St and Catherine St look terrible and in need of work.
I could go on and on but I'd like to hear what other people think.

Well said.

I'm originally from galway but have been in limerick since 2002 and it's home from home now. Can't really see myself living anywhere else, Great People, Great City!!!

Moved into the city centre about 8 months ago and began to notice the litter around the city. fag butts are particularily bad. Back in my younger days i worked in supermac's in Tuam. The town got appointed a traffic and litter warden. She contacted all the businesses in the town and explained that they were responsible for the all the litter on the footpath's and roads outside their premises. It did mean that at 5am we'd have to pick up the rubbish outside, which was quite a lot at weekends. But if you didn't, you were fined!! Proper order too. we also had to pack the rubbish bags together so that when the rubbish was left out it didn't look like a landfill on th side of the road. Businesses should take responibility for the upkeep of the city just as much as anyone else.

I think the council need to look at the footpath's issue seriously. The new pedestrian areas along bedford row are nice but the light paving stains badly. The council put tar over the footpath a year or so ago from supermac's to leavy's shoes and it absolutely disgusting. stains terrible and shows up chewing gum very easily.

I am glad to see the work they did on clancy strand and o'callaghan strand (still undergoing works). There's a nice white railing along o'callaghan strand by the river that looks good from my apartment!!! If only we had a bit of weather to go with it, it would be a real pleasure the feed the swans!!!!

Aidric

The Analyst wrote: »

I am glad to see the work they did on clancy strand and o'callaghan strand (still undergoing works). There's a nice white railing along o'callaghan strand by the river that looks good from my apartment!!! If only we had a bit of weather to go with it, it would be a real pleasure the feed the swans!!!!

Ya i live on O Callaghan Strand myself and it's coming along nicely. It should look really good when finished, mid-november apparently. I'm not too keen on the white railings to be honest, I'd imagine they will become very shabby in a short space of time, the railings themselves are nice though.

cooperguy

gaf1983 wrote: »

Maps of the city bus routes on bus stops.

I agree with nearly all the points made on the thread. This is one I was thinking myself though.

I was in california for the summer and they had maps on all the bus stops like these: http://www.octa.net/pdf/pdf/sept2008/route047.pdf it made it so much easier to get around and I thought straight away why the hell doesnt everywhere have these! You know exactly where you are, where every stop is (instead of just the last one) and what time the bus will reach your stop. Plus it wouldnt be a hugely expensive improvement to do.

Of coarse the busses ran on time every time too, but thats a different story:D

Karmafaerie

The council still haven't bought the machines to clean the new pedestrianised areas AFAIK.
They need special machines for the marble, and they're supposed to be bought when the work on Thomas/Catherine St finishes.
Fingers crossed.

I live by Bedford Row myself, and it's a disgrace how grubby the new stones look.

mysterious

The city has vastly improved.

Infact, I find Limerick city centre becoming pleasant on my last trips down there!

There is one eyesore that really needs attention and its all connected.:D

So here it goes.
I get off at Colbert station, eysore
Walk up Parnells street = eysore
Walking up side streets to William street = eysore
William street = eysore
And then you have sarsfields/ Liddy streets = eysore.

They need to start making simple improvments. For example Parnell street should be bulldozed. but right now they could plant a few trees? Since its very wide here I think it would be a great idea.

Also any new building heights should be a minimum of 4 storeys in the city centre. Buildings should be designed to high spec and facades of all existing buildings should be improved. Every retailer in the city should make their own contribution to make changes. Afterall, it's the retailers job, to make their business and frontage to street attractive and maintained.

Seriously it's not that complicated to make simple changes like I've said above.

A few trees put in Parnell street, would be a great starter. Finger crossed that they will hurry up with the Colbert station revamp!

Karmafaerie

mysterious wrote: »

The city has vastly improved.

Infact, I find Limerick city centre becoming pleasant on my last trips down there!

There is one eyesore that really needs attention and its all connected.:D

So here it goes.
I get off at Colbert station, eysore
Walk up Parnells street = eysore

No doubt about that.


Walking up side streets to William street = eysore

Side streets in any city wil always be low priority.

William street = eysore

Already planned and starting in a few months.

And then you have sarsfields/ Liddy streets = eysore.

Already planned and awaiting planning permision.

They need to start making simple improvments. For example Parnell street should be bulldozed. but right now they could plant a few trees? Since its very wide here I think it would be a great idea.

The new bus station would have to be completed before any work done on the streets, as it will greatly change the traffic lay out.
Also, Parnell St is going to be one leg of the new orbital system, so again this will completely change the traffic lay out.
Basically, nothing can be done to Parnell St untill then.

Also any new building heights should be a minimum of 4 storeys in the city centre. Buildings should be designed to high spec and facades of all existing buildings should be improved. Every retailer in the city should make their own contribution to make changes. Afterall, it's the retailers job, to make their business and frontage to street attractive and maintained.

A minimum building height ruling would never work.
Especially along the newly proposed area surrounding Pennies/Arthurs Quay/Dunnes.

You also think that every existig building needs to be improved.
Wow.
I'm sorry, but how many wishes did this genie give Limerick city?
Limerick has the highest city rates in Ireland but you want all the retailers to have to invest hundreds of thousands to do up buildings that most of them don't own!



Seriously it's not that complicated to make simple changes like I've said above.

Yes, it really, really, would be.

A few trees put in Parnell street, would be a great starter. Finger crossed that they will hurry up with the Colbert station revamp!

You know the revamp is coming, but want them to do up the outside before they have panning permision for the inside?
That's the kind of bad planning that got us into this state in the first place.

I'm sorry, but you're forward thinking isn't the best man.