The One-Way To God Knows Where

ress release from the Delgany Residents group, issued on Thursday, November 26th 2020…

Convent Road in Delgany (otherwise known as Main St), is a little more than 300 metres long, however 121 homes rely on this road for access.

Couple this with planning for a further 232 houses and apartments on the Carmelite lands which will also require access from Convent Road along with all the rat-run traffic that has increased hugely over a short period of time, the road is beyond breaking point.

After 15 years of local groups lobbying for improvements, there is still no investment in sight from WCC. Locals are worried that the village has been left in the cold.

Over the past few years, there has been talk about making Convent Road a one-way. This has now grown legs again, and on foot of a recent survey organised by Delgany Community Council from residents and visitors to Delgany, it is now seen as a very viable solution. The survey asked for views with regard the overall satisfaction of Convent Road, which included questions regarding Impact of Traffic, Ability to Navigate the Village by foot, Safety and Suggested Solutions.

There was a very significant total of 265 individual responders across the community from differing categories so as to allow for impartial views, especially in relation to the questions regarding trialling of a one-way vehicular solution for Convent Road, and as to whether the responders would be more likely or less likely to shop in the village, which is a very important consideration to protect the traders.

In answer to the question ‘Do you Support the Trial of a One-Way Vehicle Traffic System on Convent Road?’, there was an incredibly strong response of Yes by 75.85% (201 out of 265 Responders) with just 16.6% against.

Following that, and in order to ascertain the differential this may have to the level of trade, the following question was asked; ‘If Convent Road was One-Way, would you be A) More Likely to shop/visit, B) less Likely to shop/visit or C) your shopping-visiting habits would not change?’ 52.45% stated that they would be more likely to shop/visit, while only 11% suggested that they may be less likely. This seemingly provides great news for the local traders and alleviates any fears they may suggest in the event of a one-way implementation by Wicklow County Council.

Gareth Madden from the Delgany Residents group told the Guide that the response to a one-way was particularly strong from residents of the village, which was quite surprising as it would be these same residents who would be affected the most by only being able to access and leave their homes one-way. It just shows the extent of the problems experienced by them each day in the present situation.

A more in-depth proposition, to alleviate access concerns, would be to turn Convent Road into a one-way from Wicklow Arms junction up to the new proposed roundabout at Convent Court, and then from there to allow 2-way traffic towards Blacklon. This would allow Convent Court residents, along with the new proposed development on Convent Lands, access their homes from both directions.

He went onto say, “Initial discussions with WCC have been favourable in this regard as it was noted it would allow for a greater amount of parking outside the shops in a horizontal fashion, road resurfacing, additional pavement width with options for shared spaces, the removal of dangerous parking on pavements, and implementation of traffic calming by way of planting and street furniture.

“In essence, this will turn the village back into a pretty market destination for locals and visitors.”