Bypassed - RTE One July 5th 9:30pm

Couldnt see a thread listed anywhere but has any one seen this tonight? Interesting programme. Bit of the usual doom and gloom considering that it is towns that have been bypassed in the midst of a recession and businesses have suffered but few heartening stories to emerge from it.

2 particular towns, Mountrath and Borris In Ossory have taken a hammering between the bypass and the recession but there was two young brothers in Mountrath that were trying to set up a a youth club in the town. Great leadership shown from the lads.

Made me think that there is plenty of other towns that aren't fortunate enough to have been en-route between two cities, in particular in my own area but businesses have survived.

On the player, Well worth a look.
http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/bypassed-30004123/10594526/

Atlantic Dawn

Yes it was doom and gloom but progress too. Fáilte Ireland should have made some kind of recommended stop guide with a list of towns for tourists who might have wanted something different than the motorway service area, problem then is which towns are listed and which are not.

fryup

what a dismal hole the midlands are...thank god its bypassed

remember the old days, driving through dreary town after dreary town

coylemj

Small towns with wide streets and/or large car parks did ok when the main road ran through them because people passing through could pull over and buy a coffee or stop for a full breakfast, I'm thinking of towns like Mitchelstown and Cahir and then you had the roadhouses like Racket Hall near Roscrea, Matt the Thresher in Birdhill and the Montague Hotel outside Portlaoise where there was a big car park and they did food all day. However businesses in those towns other than convenience stores and food outlets started to suffer when traffic levels got chronic because people from the surrounding areas were put off by the congestion.

Most towns did some level of study to plan for the effect of being bypassed. The classic model for most such studies was Naas, the first big town to be bypassed and the recommendation from their experience was that the town needed to improve the shopping experience in order to attract people from the hinterland back into the town now that passing traffic was going to be all but eliminated.

PTH2009

Anyone get a moone boy vibe off the 2 young lads raising funds for there local youth club ??? Lol

Good documentary I thought. That guy from moneygall almost runs everything there (undertakers/shopkeeper). The town are really mulking the whole Obama thing but it's a pretty smart move

Going to the Munster final in Limerick on Sunday so have the joys of visting sum dreary towns such as Tipperary Town, neanagh, boris on osery etc

Sue Pa Key Pa

In my experience, a town with busy traffic benefits from a bypass as more people are able to use it's facilities with better parking etc. Vehicles which were just passing through free up space. A town that is already in decline, will see that process speed up by a bypass.

CarrickMcJoe

How many of the towns have large shopping centre's on the outskirts? These too, killed off the towns.

CatFromHue

Mountrath and Borris are really only small villages, even when they weren't bypassed they weren't up to much.

I used to get the bus up and down to UL, from Dublin, and didn't know where Mountrath was until the Obama stuff. Even though I would have passed through it 100s of times!

CarrickMcJoe

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

How many of the towns have large shopping centre's on the outskirts? These too, killed off the towns.

Fierce resistance to Tesco relocating in Thurles for this very reason. A lot of businesses in liberty square is independent and locally owned and if tesco move then in all probability they'll take trade out on the town outskirts. That said, tescos current situation is far from ideal. Parking is virtually zilch

Sue Pa Key Pa

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

In my experience, a town with busy traffic benefits from a bypass as more people are able to use it's facilities with better parking etc. Vehicles which were just passing through free up space. A town that is already in decline, will see that process speed up by a bypass.

I felt a couple of these towns still have significant traffic going through them such as portlaoise and also Carlow which is bypassed by the m9 and I agree that its better to go be able to go into a town and grab a bite to eat without having to enter gridlock either entering or exiting.

That said, having towns bypassed is similar to bypassing advertising. It has its effect

ofcork

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

How many of the towns have large shopping centre's on the outskirts? These too, killed off the towns.

I thought that when moneygall looked so dead.

ProudDUB

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Yes it was doom and gloom but progress too. Fáilte Ireland should have made some kind of recommended stop guide with a list of towns for tourists who might have wanted something different than the motorway service area, problem then is which towns are listed and which are not.

Put them all on it. What's the harm? Dubin to Limerick is hardly New York to San Francisco. I drive from Dublin to Limerick a couple of times a month. I've given up pulling into towns and villages along the way, looking for somewhere decent to eat, that isn't your usual carvery shyte, or meh pub grub. So now, it's a donut in Midway and straight on 'till dawn. Maybe it's a chicken and the egg situ? If the motorway means that everyone is bypassing towns, the raison d'etre for these businesses is no longer there.

I think it's a great idea, for Failte Ireland to have a travel guide for all the motorway journeys of Ireland, listing local attractions, castles, local fairs, good pubs, restaurants etc etc along the way. Specifically target people who are heading to and from the major tourist destinations in Kerry, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway etc....and who wouldn't mind stopping along the way, for an hour or two, whether it's to grab something decent to eat, or just stretch their legs. If you put them online, or in an app, you aren't limited to content size.

coylemj

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

How many of the towns have large shopping centre's on the outskirts? These too, killed off the towns.

And in some cases the adjacent town. Last time I drove through Kilcock for old time's sake, I was shocked at the desolation which by the looks of it is caused by the massive Tesco on the Dublin side of Maynooth.