Preliminary designs revealed for Arklow’s Safer Routes to Schools …

Wicklow County Council have revealed preliminary designs for proposed 'Safer Routes to Schools Programme' projects at St John's SNS and SS Michael and Peter Junior National School in Arklow, which are due to commence in July or August 2023. oth designs feature a variety of measures aimed at decreasing traffic congestion and encouraging walking and cycling to school, including raised, textured and coloured surfacing to highlight the presence of school zones, pencil bollards along footpath verges to prevent parking on paths and banners and road signs on street poles, to identify that the gateways of the school zones are nearby. Briefing elected Arklow councillors on the designs at the April Municipal District meeting, Associate at Barry Transportation, the consultants designing the scheme, Daniel O'Keeffe said: "The current front of school environment at SS Michael and Peter Junior National School has two entrances, but neither is clearly defined. "The proposed school zone on St Mary's Road will feature pencil bollards, buff-coloured surfacing, bollards to tighten junctions and will create inviting spaces for children to access the school.

"Warning signs letting people know that there is a 'School ahead' will be erected at either end of the entrance to the school, with pencil bollards to prevent on-road parking and a tightening of the junction at Collins Street/St Mary's Road using bollards. "The current road width on Castle Park encourages double parking, which poses a safety hazard. Reducing the road width and augmenting the footpath will provide a safe space for children to access the road, while also deterring traffic from travelling the wrong way down Castlepark Avenue.

"Front-of-school improvements on Castlepark Avenue will also include pencil bollards, buff coloured surfacing, bollards to tighten junctions, planting and the removal of a small amount of parking. "The proposed pencil bollards will be used to narrow the road to a 3m, one-way system, preventing on-road parking. 'School ahead' warning signs will be erected at either end of the entrance to the school, with school zone banners incorporated on existing poles and angled parking outside the Health Centre. "The scheme design at St John's SNS on the Coolgreany Road features similar measures," Mr O'Connor continued. "The front of the school is not clearly defined and there are inadequate traffic calming measures in place, with traffic congestion issues and cars parked on footpaths in the vicinity of the school.

"Reducing the road width will help reduce speed and provide space for the augmentation of footpaths, while bollards interspersed with low-level planters will prevent parking on footpaths and improve safety and access to the school. The proposed road will be made 2m wider compared to the existing road, to accommodate the pencil bollards. "In terms of the front of school improvements at St John's, there will be the pencil bollards to tighten junctions, buff-coloured surfacing, 'School Ahead' signs with solar-powered flashing lights, planting and increased signage.

The location of the current crossing will also be subject to change to incorporate the proposed bus drop-off and set-down area." Although impressed by the designs, Councillors Peir Leonard, Pat Fitzgerald and Sylvester Bourke expressed concerns about the impact of removing car parking spaces in the town. "I must say, it's a lovely plan, but I do see problems ahead of us," Cllr Bourke said. "Whenever we take parking away, you're bound to be criticized by drivers.

When we took away some of the parking on Main Street there was a huge backlash." Nodding in approval, Cllr Leonard added: "In the case of SS Michael and Peter, the reality is that a lot of people currently park on the footpaths next to the school, especially down at that junction where Connolly Street meets St Mary's Road and Collins Street. "I'm aware that a lot of people use the parking at the train station, but is there a formal agreement in place with Irish Rail?

Because, if we are going to be losing parking spaces with the improvements, I think we need to formalise that arrangement." Responding to the councillors' concerns, Senior Executive Engineer at Wicklow County Council, Conor Page said: "As it stands, people are parking on double yellow lines and on footpaths, which they obviously shouldn't be. I suppose we're not really taking away any car parking spaces, there will only be 8 spots lost between the two developments.

"Footpaths on St Mary's Road are very narrow and we need to stop people parking there. There is quite a bit of parking in the area, from St Mary's Road up to Main Street, with parking at the Irish Rail Train Station. We have had initial discussions with Irish Rail, and we're aware there has been an informal arrangement.

"There is quite a bit of parking in the area, on St Mary's Road up to Main Street. As part of the transport study, we surveyed Arklow's car parks and found that most of them are underutilized, in terms of capacity. "We found that, at school drop-off and collection times, the minimum number of spaces that were unoccupied at the main car park (at SS Michael and Peter) was 15 and, at the bandstand, it was 55.

So, there are plenty of spaces." District Manager Leonora Earls added: "Just to be clear, we are not removing any parking here. All we're doing is trying to figure out how best to stop people parking on the footpaths and yellow lines.

We're not removing any public parking spaces that were already available. "The other thing to consider here is that we want to discourage people from driving right up to the door of the school. If children and parents feel safer outside the school, then they will be more inclined to walk or cycle.

As it currently stands, it's just a free for all." "Exactly, the idea is to create a sense of place in front of the school, so people know that they're approaching a school zone," Mr Page added. Outlining the next steps in the development, Mr Page said that the construction works would commence once the detailed design stage is completed and expects work to begin in July or August 2023.

"We don't want to be disturbing kids during their exams, so at the moment we're just making sure that we're ready to go in the summer," Mr Page said.

"We have approved funding from the NTA and we're really keen to get started on this, and to get going on the Round 2 schools under the scheme."