Athlone poised to be 'the leading inland urban centre' of Ireland
The Chief Executive of Westmeath County Council confidently predicted this week that Athlone will become “the leading inland urban centre” of Ireland within the next couple of years.
Barry Kehoe made his remarks in the Athlone Civic Centre on Monday afternoon at the official opening of the Athlone Town Centre Regeneration & Enhancement Project, which he said was the culmination of “decades of work at this stage.”
Describing the ambitious project to pedestrianise Sean Costello Street and redirect traffic through the centre of the town via Mardyke Street, Mr Kehoe said the overall objective of the streetscape enhancement project was to “develop Athlone” into a town which is a “vibrant, inclusive and positive” place to live, work, study and visit.
The project, for which Westmeath County Council advanced matched funding in the region of €2 million, resulted in major traffic disruption in the town centre, an issue which was touched on by both the Chief Executive and the Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Liam McDaniel, in their speeches on Monday.
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Tanya Cannon general election candidate, Regina Bushell, President Athlone Chamber, Cllr. John Dolan, Alan O’Neill, Chief Fire Officer, Cllr Liam McDaniel, Cathaoirleach Westmeath Co. County Council, Wesley Hudson, Athlone Fire Brigade, Cllr Frankie Keena, Mayor Athlone and Moate Municipal District, Cllr Tom Farrell and Cllr Aengus O’Rourke at the launch of the new Class B Fire Appliance & Water Tanker last Monday. Photo Paul Molloy PaulMolloy (2024)Image 2 of 2
Ambrose Clarke, Director of Services, Cllr Liam McDaniel, Cathaoirleach, Niamh Hession, Director Design, Turley Planning Consultants, Deirdre O’Reilly, Director of Services, Cllr Frankie Keena, Mayor Athlone and Moate Municipal District, Lorraine Midleton, Executive Planner, Cathaldus Hartin, Senior Planner, Regina Bushell, President Athlone Chamber and Barry Kehoe CEO Westmeath County Council, at the launch of the Athlone Urban Design & Regeneration Framework Plan last Monday. Photo Paul Molloy. PaulMolloy (2024)Cllr McDaniel thanked local business owners in the town for their “understanding and patience” during the enhancement works, while Barry Kehoe spoke about what he referred to as “the evolution of traffic management” in the town of Athlone.
While acknowledging that there are “issues around traffic” in the town, the council's Chief Executive said the thinking around the use of cars in town centres had “moved on.”
He added that the council now recognises that it would be “just impossible” to accommodate all the cars that wished to go through the town.
“We would need to demolish half the town and build more roads,” he said, “so the town is going to have to evolve and we have to make sure that traffic management systems are efficient and effective.”
Mr. Kehoe paid tribute to the many people who had worked to make the Athlone Town Centre Regeneration and Enhancement Project a reality, in particular the council's regeneration team, the design team, council officials and the local councillors who had “taken hard decisions when they needed to be taken” and who had supported the project from the outset.
He also paid tribute to the business owners on Sean Costello St and Mardyke St, and said a lot of buildings in the area which were previously idle had been brought “back into use” as part of the streetscape works.
“There has been an evolution at ground level in terms of retail and upstairs in terms of people living in the centre of Athlone and we have to make sure that this trend continues."
Mr Kehoe made a direct appeal to property owners in the centre of Athlone who have properties that are not in use to either “bring them back into use or put them on the market” so that other people can bring them back into use.
“The situation where buildings are idle on the streets of Athlone is not really tolerable in the long term,” the council's Chief Executive told assembled guests in the Civic Centre.
“Buildings need to be active and they need to be available to people in order to maintain the vitality of the town centre,” said Mr Kehoe, who added that this was an issue that the council would “work closely on” with the local Chamber of Commerce and the property owners in the years ahead.
“It is really crucial,” he said.
Westmeath County Council awarded the contract for the Athlone Town Centre Public Realm Enhancement Works to John Cradock Ltd in January 2023 and Sean Costello Street was permanently closed to vehicular traffic on October 31 of the same year.
Laying of the paving in Sean Costello Street began in January of this year and, as the works progressed, a new traffic signal system was commissioned in May at the junctions between Mardyke Street/Pump Lane, Gleeson Street/ St Mary's Square and Irishtown, which resulted in long traffic tailbacks along John Broderick Street.
The streetscape project which was officially opened this week, is an extension of the public realm project which resulted in the pedestrianisation of Church Street and the introduction of a one-way traffic system through the centre of Athlone.
The works were funded through Project Ireland 2040 and the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with Westmeath County Council providing match funding of €2 million.
Alongside the official opening of the Athlone Town Centre Regeneration & Enhancement Project on Monday, Westmeath County Council also launched the Athlone Urban Design & Regeneration Framework Plan which outlines a number of projects which the council plans to progress in the coming years.
The new Class B Fire Appliance and Water Tanker for the Athlone Fire Service was also officially launched at the Civic Centre.