One-way system in Athlone 'essential' for safety reasons

A local resident joined the debate on the proposed one-way system in Athlone this week by arguing that the change is needed to protect the safety of people walking and cycling on Church Street.

The one-way system is seen by the council as a vital component of a €3m upgrade of Church Street which is designed to make it more pedestrian-friendly.

Finian Coghlan told the Westmeath Independent that, as a pedestrian and cyclist in Athlone, he was 'a firm believer in the point of the one-way system.'

'This is not about doing away with people’s business prospects, it is first and foremost about the safety of the people of Athlone,' Finian stated.

Last week, he measured the footpaths at several 'pinch-points' on or around Church Street. He found that at one of them, the ‘bottleneck’ at Mardyke House, across the street from Paddy Power bookmakers and the Glitzi Bitz shop, the footpath was just 53 centimetres (or 21 inches) wide.

This was of particular concern, he said, because the path was narrower than the average base width of some children’s buggies he measured, which was 56 centimetres, or 22 inches.

'That means to traverse the path at that point, with the average buggy in Athlone, you are putting a wheel, at least, in the traffic.'

Finian said he was 'a big fan of the one-way system' when it was introduced for several months in 2008.

'I thought it might be the impetus that breathes a bit of life back into the town of Athlone. But because of some louder voices, perhaps, a number of councillors changed their vote and the system was done away with on the pretext that they’d wait until the railway field got tidied up.'

He said that, after the one-way system was abandoned on that occasion, Church Street again became 'Bottleneck City' and 'Wing Mirror Clipsville'.

Finian felt the one-way system represented 'the chance' of a better future for 'one of the most iconic thoroughfares in Ireland.'

When asked about concerns some motorists have over increased traffic delays which may result from the one-way system, he replied: 'We haven’t yet got used to the idea, even after more than 20 years, of using the bypass and the motorway.

'There are six motorway entrances into Athlone. If used judiciously, the difficulties of the linear nature of this poorly-planned town can be made easier. The quickest way from A to B is not necessarily your old-fashioned straight line.'

He stressed that the one-way system was not being introduced 'to annoy individual businesses' but because 'civic engineers who understand traffic flow and town planning' feel it’s the right course of action.

'We forget that there’s still 1,300 car parking spaces underneath the Athlone Towncentre. Shopping in the town could be a delightful experience if you pull into the underground – there’s two ways into it – and have an amble around Athlone as if it were Henry Street or Grafton Street.

'You can bring everything back to your well-parked, safe, car and pay your €2 or €3, and move on. One bargain in one shop would save you the price of the parking,' he said.

The deadline for public submissions on the Church Street redevelopment was to be Wednesday next, February 1, but it emerged yesterday that the process will have to be extended by a further eight weeks because Westmeath County Council had not erected a site notice on the street, as it was required to do under planning regulations.