N5 - Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge [underway]

timmyntc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147950#Comment_122147950

There are many towns out there with less on street car parking and yet the shops are busier than those in strokestown. Car parking is not all it's cracked up to be - making streets a desirable destination is more important

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147950#Comment_122147950

Think he is being facetious to make a point. For such a wide street there should be plenty of room for cycle lanes, footpaths, green areas and parking. Such a large investment could transform the town but not if they go with the current plan. When I posted the original link I presumed the standard would match that of other public realms around the country.

Act Fast

This gives a feel for the background https://roscommonpeople.ie/controversial-strokestown-streetscape-plan-gets-green-light-with-e7-9m-awarded/

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147950#Comment_122147950

Are we still talking about the same town? Nowhere in Strokestown is far from the shops, certainly not any of the proposed parking spaces. It’s about a 10 minute walk from one end of the town to the other.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122149410#Comment_122149410

Yes but us Irish people like to almost back the car into the door of the shop if we could. I see it every time I go to Tesco with abled bodied people parked along the front of the building and in disabled spaces even though there are standard spaces available a further 20m away.

Pete_Cavan

€8m to mark out parking spaces, waste of money. No doubt the new N5 will be blamed when all their lovely parking spaces remain empty and "them up in Dublin" won't have done enough for the town, despite the locals pissing away the significant funding which has been given to them.

paulbok

Its not the locals spending or pissing away the money.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122150747#Comment_122150747

Well they have decided that the money should be spent on, well, I'm not even sure what the money is being spent on or what the town is to gain. The place was an ocean of tarmac before and will continue to be after.

selectamatic

These redevelopment plans are pushed through at co council level with pressure from government. Funding was secured and will be spent.

It's window dressing plain and simple.

It'll look nice but it'll make no discernable difference to the economic prospects of these towns.

Ballaghaderreen and to a lesser extent strokestown are two prime examples of market towns that were once the economic hubs of a pretty large area. Now that these days are gone they're in a state of comatose. Not enough employment to retain a skilled population and not enough economic opportunities to attract private investment towards the hospitality sector.

Cycle lanes and pedestrian streets/infrastructure won't fix these issues.

Strokestown could make some bit of a go from a tourism perspective with strokestown house but many more picturesque and well known coastal towns are currently struggling so realistically the outlook for lesser known inland towns is pretty bleak in this regard too.

In the context of bypasses; the bypass didn't harm Ballaghaderreen it was already fatally wounded. A market town with no market.

In short I can't see it mattering a whole pile whether strokestown keeps too much parking or goes too far down the pedestrian route after the redevelopment it'll still be what it is today.

https://mariawalsh.eu/over-e11-2m-for-regeneration-projects-across-midlands-north-west-will-have-a-positive-impact-on-local-towns-and-villages-mep-maria-walsh/

KrisW1001

With the traffic gone, these towns at least have a chance to reinvent themselves as local centres, to serve the people from the surrounding countryside. It will be up to the people living there to decide whether they want this or not.

Pete_Cavan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122151957#Comment_122151957

Strokestown has an extremely wide main street, it has scope to provide parking and also usable and enjoyable space for people. The Part 8 has 3m paths on each side a 33m wide tarmaced area between. That's wider than the N7 Naas bypass and M4 west of Lucan (and that even has more greenery!), some of the busiest roads in the country. Many sections of the M50, M1 approaching the airport, etc. are only wider because they have a wide central median with hedging and scrubs. If you calculated the square metres of tarmac proposed for Strokestown between the existing roundabout and the crossroads 250m west, you'd likely have as much if not more tarmac than the vast majority of 250m sections of our motorway network.

It is not going to be a pleasant environment and not a place people will want to spend time. Any visitor to Strokestown Park House is unlikely to explore the town further as there is nothing for them there. Basically the town is foregoing any spin off benefit to it from its biggest asset.

The approved plan is an enormous disappointment compared to what was originally proposed. Some scaling back from initial plans is to be expected but to go from this to full car park is crazy. Given the space available, there is certainly scope to provide ample parking while also creating nice spaces for people (and it is people who spend money, not cars).

Image taken from this article.

It will be an interesting experiment, Strokestown will surely have the highest proportion of parking space per resident. By some peoples logic, it should thrive as any suggestion of removing parking spaces is met with claims that it will destroy businesses. The abundance of parking spaces will either lead to increased economic activity, and if not, why provide so much parking? Hopefully some case studies can be done comparing the impact this project has on Strokestown compared to the impact Ballaghaderreen Town Public Realm Enhancement Project will have there considering it will reduce parking and create a pedestrian-friendly environment at Market Square (and for half the price of Stroketown).

selectamatic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122152885#Comment_122152885

Oh I know all about strokestown and I'm not disagreeing with you really. There was plenty of scope to leave plenty of parking yet have the wide part of the town look more aesthetically pleasing than perhaps will come to fruition with the current plan.

The Ballaghaderreen plan is far too light on parking imo. Particularly in consideration of the bank of Ireland and the main ATM.

Either way though without employment in both areas I can't see the projects making much difference to Strokestown or Ballaghaderreen.

The unemployment figures for the area's are very grim last time I read about them and things certainly aren't improving in this key facet of what makes a thriving urban centre.

Westernview

Is all that funding going to just paving and car parking and scaled back green areas? Killala's town first plan for example is about spending money on the public realm too but its only a small component of an overall plan. Remote work hubs, new architecturally designed social housing, preservation and interpretation of historic buildings, strategies and incentives to attract people into the area are just some of the things planned on a phased basis. Throwing large amounts of money on streetscapes alone is squandering resources and won't progress the town at all.

paulbok

Getting back on topic, though still in the same area, the stripping of topsoil for the new roundabout and link road into Strokestown has started. I'd be expecting that new link road to be completed quickly enough to reroute the L1405 Kilmore road to allow the mainline to cut through the existing road.

hondar

Back on topic, few photos of progress.

DumbBrunette

Thread title definitely needs to be updated!

spacetweek

Updated.

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122179297#Comment_122179297

What a lovely sight.

DumbBrunette

The earthworks are starting to show up on satellite photography now. Most of the work so far appears to be around Frenchpark and a bit north of Strokestown too.

mayo.mick

Contractor invests in major equipment for Roscommon road project

https://roscommonherald.ie/news/contractor-invests-in-major-equipment-for-roscommon-road-project_arid-18972.html

DumbBrunette

https://www.roscommonherald.ie/news/green-light-for-signal-controlled-junction-in-county-roscommon-village_arid-19486.html

https://roscommonherald.ie/news/new-junction-and-footpath-layouts-causing-problems-for-motorists_arid-19641.html

The 'first signal controlled junction in Co Roscommon' opens in Frenchpark. Surely that can't be true??

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228239#Comment_122228239

Checking the obvious places - it might be.

Roscommon Town is all roundabouts and zebra crossings. None in the Roscommon side of Carrick On Shannon or Athlone, doesn't seem to be any in Boyle. Very roundabout driven county it seems!

Westernview

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228239#Comment_122228239

In some towns I've seen plans for replacing some roundabouts with signal controlled junctions as part of active travel works. I'm not sure what the design reasons are behind it. I think its something to do with accommodating segregated cycle lanes with traffic.

DumbBrunette

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228257#Comment_122228257

You learn something new every day!

loco_scolo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228239#Comment_122228239

There is one on the Roscommon side of Athlone town. Although, Athlone is really county Westmeath, let's be honest 😅

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122229739#Comment_122229739

Most of the Roscommon side of Athlone Town is still in Westmeath, its only when you get to Monksland that its Roscommon. Shannon has not been the boundary for a long time.

prunudo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122228239#Comment_122228239

looks like another case of lads in offices with no experience of driving lorries designing junctions.

loco_scolo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122229779#Comment_122229779

Okay cool thanks. I assumed it was the Shannon as boundary. Didn't realize the recent discussions, on moving the boundary, only referred to the Monkstown area.

veryangryman

MonksLAND! Us Athlonians can only dream of affording to breathe the air of Monkstown