Major plans to make Rathcormac a safer place for pedestrians have been unveiled as Cork County Council pushes ahead with rejuvenation works.
The plans, which will see a major redesign of the road way through the village with traffic calming measures, was unveiled to councillors at the Fermoy Municipal District meeting in Mitchelstown this week.
The strategy will see at least three ‘speed tables’ installed and the road will be narrowed to 6.5 metres, all with a view to slowing down traffic.
The plans drawn up by Brendan O’Gorman, Council engineer, said that the strategy had been devised after several meetings with locals.
“This plan for Rathcormac, is a long term regeneration plan. The phase to date has involved workshops with residents, we have engaged consultants, and brought consultants also, which will bring in a major streetscape plan for the village.
“The whole project is subject to a successful planning application and people interested in this can access the drawings, which are available on the Council website.
“If people want to come in and discuss it they can make an appointment to meet the engineers. None of this will be a shock to the councillors,” he said.
SAFER ZONES
The focus of the plan is the construction of multiple traffic calming measures – at present Mr O’Gorman said the street is very wide and this feeds into problems of speeding cars.
“How you do it, is narrow the street or make physical obstructions. It gives drivers the appearance of calming, which includes speed tables, not ramps, which also provide crossing points for pedestrians.”
He said at present there were structures in place which were not effective and, Mr O’Gorman said, the people of Rathcormac who engaged with the consultation phase agreed with Council proposals.
There would be extensive tree planting as well ‘speed transitional zones’ which would help to create ‘safer zones’.
Funding has already been secured for the project and the Council will be moving to the planning application phase shortly.
SUBSTANTIAL COSTING
One key area relating to narrowing the road way, with consideration given to heavy agriculture vehicles operating in the area. Mr O’Gorman said the optimum width agreed in consultation with local people was 6.5 metres.
In his report to the Council, Mr O’Gorman said that the overall master plan has been provisionally costed at the upper limit of €7 million, predicting that work will commence in 2021.
“Initial priority will be given to the new controlled crossing/calming at the Glenville road junction, calming the southern approach to the village, Village Enhancement Scheme (VES) at the garda station/village green and extending the speed plateau at the Post Office Junction and improvements to the Community Centre Junction to the North,” he said.
Local Councillor William O’Leary praised the plan and said that it was a ‘blueprint, not just for how to do this for a village, but for the whole county’.
Cllr Frank O’Flynn praised the work and reinforced his view that public consultation must happen.
Cllr Deirdre O’Brien wished the Council ‘every success’ and Cllr Noel McCarthy complimented Mr O’Gorman, saying that the project would be a step forward for a ‘great village that has come on leaps and bounds’.
