The proposed new bus lane for Bothar Uí hEithir and Forster Street will only be a success if the problem of illegally parked taxis is dealt with first.
This is the view of Fine Gael councillor Brian Walsh who was speaking at Monday’s city council meeting, when the plan for the new bus lane was unveiled.
The proposed new lane will run from Bothar Uí hEithir (off Prospect Hill ) along the western side of its carriageway. The road will also have to be widened. It will continue down Forster Street, along the northern side of its carriageway and end just before the junction with Eyre Square.
The bus lane on Bothar Uí hEithir will operate 24 hours a day while the section along Forster Street will only operate as a bus lane between 4pm and 7pm, Mondays to Saturdays.
There was a wide welcome for the plan, but councillors Catherine Connolly and Derek Nolan asked for the existing bus stop area outside the SIPTU office be removed to allow traffic to flow freely. Council officials said they will liaise with the Gardaí about doing this.
Cllr Walsh said there was also a problem with taxi’s being parked illegally around the bus station.
He said that while there is a taxi rank in the area, this does not stop taxis parking illegally. He said it is causing an obstruction to traffic and would hinder the buses that will eventually use the new lane. He called for measures to be taken to tackle this, and council officials said this would be done.
Fears were also expressed that the new bus lane would also involve the sculpture, commemorating the women of the Magdalen Laundry, to be removed from its current location. The statue’s location is important given that the old Magdalen Laundry was on Forster Street.
Cllr Connolly has welcomed the “agreed solution” to the statue’s relocation which is very close to its current site. It will also benefit from enhanced landscaping.
Councillors also unanimously passed a motion calling on the Government and the Roman Catholic Church to issue formal apologies for the abuse inflicted on women and young girls in the Magdalene Laundries and to establish a distinct redress scheme for all survivors
