Bypassed Towns (e.g Loughrea) - Are bypasses good for business?

veryangryman

I mean long-term.

Take a few examples...

Athlone/Kilmartins - of course the roundabout used to be a major bottleneck, but on plus side, the gusy in that service centre were raking it in. Because everyone knew it from passing it. But now, you dont notice it.

More extreme example - Loughrea/Swords/Enfield. Any chance you had of someone pulling in there to a sandwich etc now is pretty much gone.

Places like Tyrellspass which you can see the Castle from the Motorway probably still do ok as its a handy hop on/off to visit.

In sumamry, are the benefits of bypasses to the locals weighed down by the disadvantages to local shops which used to pick up the passing trade? Its fine with Athlone etc which already has a large local population to trade, but the smaller towns and villages seem to get screwed in my opinion.

In summary, good for quicker commute. Bad for those staying at home

28064212

Better national infrastructure = better national economy. Yes, a bypass will take money away from a town centre and businesses relying on through traffic will go under, but if you were relying on that, it's not a very good business model. It might take a while, but the town will stabilise, and support a level of business appropriate to its size. Meanwhile, the places where people actually want to get to are doing better, employee productivity is up, and everyone is a little less stressed out compared to when they were sitting in traffic for 4 hours.

L1011

In most bypassed towns the town benefits as whole from reduced traffic and easier access while a few specific business interests suffer. Kilmartin's is still very busy anyway - its now easier to get in and out of it than before!

Nuttzz

Naas traders complained about the prospect of the bypass wiping out trade in the town, i think that the town has benefited from the bypass. People will go into towns, be able to park and shop and not get too streesed out

Amtmann

Here's a little nugget from the opening of the M7 Monasterevin Bypass: http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20041108,1908092,1908092,real,209

And here's a clip from the opening of the M7 Kildare Bypass: http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1208/57live_av.html?1719326,null,209

richiek83

Furet wrote: »

Here's a little nugget from the opening of the M7 Monasterevin Bypass: http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20041108,1908092,1908092,real,209

And here's a clip from the opening of the M7 Kildare Bypass: http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/1208/57live_av.html?1719326,null,209

Newbridge here as benefited from the M7/ M9 Bypass which was opened in circa 1993. The benefits to Newbridge were felt almost immediately (one of the larger towns in the country so we had a strong enough local trade). Today traffic in the town is ahead of pre-bypass levels. The town acts as a retail magnet for the wider catchment area. We are currently waiting on a number of relief roads which will include a new liffey crossing. Kildare CC concentrated in the boom years of building brand new headquarters at a cost of €60million ignoring the potential of real investment. It took may half an hour today to travel from the town centre to my home (approx 1 mile). The bypass has been the catylst for growth in the town over the years

serfboard

Claremorris in Mayo is another example of bypasses benefitting towns. The town never looked as well as it did when the N17 bypass was built. The council did up the streets and footpaths, put in proper disc-parking spaces (including a train station park&ride), then Tesco and Aldi moved in, a new hotel was built, the leisure centre was re-built and the place is thriving.

All that since the bypass. They make towns far more attractive places to visit. Disregard any whinging.

Josephines restaurant in Urlingford cited the M8 motorway as being a main factor in their restaurant closing but personally i think its bull. Any trip to or from Dublin that an average person from down the country would take, you would feel peckish for a bite to eat. You'll go where you know if the food is good and not whats in front of you. i find it hard to believe that people were instinctively flocking to the restaurant just by seeing it when passing urlingford on every occasion. And if business is dropping surely they could just put a ad on the motorway.

Amtmann

I wonder how Corbett Court on the old N8 is doing since last May. I met the owner just before the Mitchelstown to Fermoy scheme opened and he was petrified. I don't think anyone would leave the M8 to stop at Corbett Court. He'll have to attract other customers.

L1011

Josephine's now has ads beside the M8 but its a little too late when all they have left is a Wimpy. The NRA needs to allow and/or manage specific signage for nearby services at junctions. The pictorial signs are ineffective.

Carawaystick

I've first hand experience of Arklow and Loughrea both thriving since they were bypassed. People who want to go there now can go there, instead of being held up be people who don't want to be there.

I'd imagine Carlow is the same, Ennis too.
Smaller villages will always struggle, they don't have a critical mass.

jd

Wexford benefited by being by passed (20+ years ago). There were traffic jams on the quays when the ferries arrived. It is congested now, but can you imagine what it would be like wiothout the by-pass?

hinault

A pal of mine based in Urlingford - which was bypassed in December 2008 - has told me that in the initial months after the the village/town was by-passed business declined but business in his place has recovered since.

ForiegnNational

hinault wrote: »

A pal of mine based in Urlingford - which was bypassed in December 2008 - has told me that in the initial months after the the village/town was by-passed business declined but business in his place has recovered since.

I stop in Urlingford every weekend on my way up/back from Cork to Dublin and although the Applegreen (Josephines) garage is still open, I asked about both Josephines and Wimpy and was told they had closed.

The cheap garage at the other end of town (it is them advertising the cheap fuel, not applegreen), is doing a roaring trade. Tiny shop, basic toilets and a freezing cold forecourt, but all of the Aircoaches are stopping there as well as traffic coming in for the cheap fuel. Seems to be busier now than it was when I used to have to crawl past in the queues!