Ruairí Ain’t Backing Down At Rathdown

There would appear to be two very different takes on the new footpath layout currently being constructed through Blacklion.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the town engineer, Ruairí O’Hanlon, who loves it, and a bunch of the residents who’d rather shove it.

We spoke with some of said residents last week, as they outlined their concerns over what they believed was a sudden loss of access, and parking spaces.

Well, Ruairí’s now back off his holiers.

And he has sent this strongly-worded letter one of the concerned residents above, Alison…

I am writing directly to you as you state in your letter that you represent a number of the property owners along Rathdown Road and so I trust that you will pass the contents of this email along to them. For the purpose of informing the elected members copied herein I would also state that you do not represent all property owners along this section of Rathdown Road and that many of the other households have expressed to Wicklow County Council their satisfaction with the proposed works and how the works have been progressing to date.

I wish to advise you that access to properties will in no way be impeded as vehicular access to the private driveways of each and every property will be maintained and access for emergency services will always be possible. This includes the provision of a vehicular width driveway access to the property known as St Joseph’s, which currently does not have its own internal driveway, and in doing so we are catering for the future provision of an internal driveway as well as the occasional parking by visiting vehicles outside of the property but not on the footpath. With regards to your comment that cars would need to carry out an illegal manoeuvre by reversing out onto the road, this is an inaccurate assertion. The rules of the road state that you must not reverse from a minor road onto a major road as it is unsafe to do so, but that when parking in your own driveway or in a car park, you should, where possible, reverse ‘in’ which enables you to safely drive out. And so it is not illegal to reverse out onto a main road from a private property, however, the rules of the road state that you should not do so. With regards to the law I must advise you though that it is an offence to park on a footpath as specified under the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 Section 36(2)(i) and so any person parking a vehicle outside these properties is legally guilty of an offence. Illegal parking along the entire length of Rathdown Road has long since been an issue and one which An Garda Síochána have asked Wicklow County Council to help address in any redesign of the road layout so as to discourage such unwanted driver behaviour.

The road layout of Rathdown road has remained unchanged for over 50 years since these properties along it were built. Design standards and guidance for Road Authorities has changed much since those days when the focus was primarily on designing for the motor car. This led to the dominance of the car in our society and is in part a cause to many health, environment and climate issues that our society faces today. Local and national policy on road and street design has changed much since Rathdown Road was last built resulting in improved street design with the focus being on prioritising walking, cycling and public transport, and minimise the need to use cars.

Better street design in urban areas will facilitate the implementation of policy on sustainable living by achieving a better balance between all modes of transport and road users. It will encourage more people to choose to walk, cycle or use public transport by making the experience safer and more pleasant. It will lower traffic speeds, reduce unnecessary car use and create a built environment that promotes healthy lifestyles and responds more sympathetically to the distinctive nature of individual communities and places. Whether travelling to work, school or college or for shopping, social or leisure purposes, improved street design will enhance how we go about our business, how we interact with each other and have a positive impact on our enjoyment of the places to and through which we travel.

It is beyond doubt that the streets of our cities and towns, suburbs and villages, should be safe, attractive and comfortable for all users. As well as cars and other vehicles this encompasses pedestrians, cyclists, and those using public transport. It also includes people of all ages and abilities and is equally relevant to residents and visitors. As Ireland follows the global trend towards increased urbanisation, which is very much evident in Greystones, we must ensure our cities and towns are pleasant, safe and healthy places to live. Any form of movement within densely populated space entails risk. Perception of risk is an important part of road safety. Spaces that ‘feel’ safe for driving are often hazardous places to walk or cycle. These spaces sometimes induce a false sense of safety and a tendency to drive at inappropriate speed. The redesign of Rathdown Road will provide a space that will encourage more walking and cycling along it as well as reduce the sense of space available to drivers to drive at speed.

The desire for safe, attractive and vibrant streets is reflected in a range of existing transport, planning and environmental policies and objectives. These policies and objectives address how neighbourhoods, villages and towns are created and protected. They relate not only to road safety and civil engineering, but also to town planning, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture and conservation. More significantly, they bear directly on broad societal issues, ranging from economic development, employment, tourism and recreation, through health, crime and security and onto education, social inclusion, energy efficiency and climate change. In other words, the design of safer, more attractive and vibrant streets, will benefit everyone by generating and sustaining communities and neighbourhoods, with wide ranging economic, social and environmental consequences.

The redesign of Rathdown Road will reduce the hard landscaped space and increase the green space along it, the benefits of this are many:

Firstly it will reduce surface water runoff, which is an issue for many of the properties along Rathdown Road. The reduction in and improved collection of surface water runoff from the paved areas along Rathdown Road has been paramount in our redesign and the removal of the existing hard surfaced areas and replacing with green space is an integral part to that.

The reducing in the width of tarmac area creates a visual narrowing of the road and so as well as the physical narrowing of the road carriageway width which we have done it also visually closes in the space at the sides of the carriageway and so creates an environment where driver speeds will be reduced.

The green areas will help control undesirable vehicular movements of driving along the footpath and illegal actions of parking on the footpath. Undesirable parking along Rathdown road has long been an issue, particularly at school drop off and pick up time and again these green spaces are an integral part, along with other measures to be provided elsewhere, of the overall solution to that issue.

The softer landscaping as opposed to the hard surfacing will also create a more enjoyable environment for residents and passers-by alike.

The redesign of the road layout will make it easier and more attractive prospect for more vulnerable road users such as persons with mobility issues to use it and so encourage people to walk rather than use the motorcar to travel. For elderly residents this can reduce the sense of being trapped in one’s home as it is safer to walk out the door rather than having to use, or wait for someone with, a car to go out. Whilst it is appreciated that the area outside your property has long been used for parking this does not convey a right to do so as a right to carry out an offence cannot be conveyed. All properties along Rathdown Road have ample space within them for the parking of at least 2 cars, which is the current requirements for properties of this size under the County Development Plan.

I trust this response addresses your concerns and gives you a brief glimpse of the topics which influence the design rationale.

We shall be recommencing works on site next Monday and so should you have any further concerns or queries on the matter I would be more than happy to discuss them with you over the phone or on site prior to works restarting.

You can check out our original interview with Linda, Bernie and co about this new Blacklion design here, and the final showdown here.