New Traffic Arrangements will Enhance Sligo City Centre

The pedestrianisation of Sligo’s O’Connell Street and the other new measures introduced this summer will facilitate the enhancement of the city centre and make it a more pleasant environment for pedestrians. In addition to attracting an increasing number of shoppers to the city centre, the new traffic arrangements have seen a smoother traffic flow on Lord Edward Street and Wine Street.

The overall objective of the Traffic Plan for Sligo City Centre, which has been incorporated in recent years into the Sligo & Environs Development Plan, is to encourage and promote greater pedestrian activity in Sligo City Centre. This will reduce conflict between pedestrians and vehicles and will allow major environmental improvement works to city centre streets.

Full map/parking guide available at the offices of Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council and also can be assessed on their websites: www.sligoborough.ie and www.sligococo.ie

The pedestrianisation of O’Connell Street is part of this overall process. It is intended to greatly reduce traffic volumes in the core city centre and to create a more pedestrian friendly environment. The core city centre for the purposes of this project is defined as the urban block defined by Wine Street, Bridge Street, Thomas Street, Temple Street and Adelaide Street. It is intended to limit vehicle penetration into this core city centre area except to those doing business there and traffic will be directed around this urban block.

Three weeks after O’Connell Street has been made pedestrian only it is still far too early to determine the overall impact on the city centre and a considerably longer settling in period is required. The operation of the O’Connell Street itself, ie servicing, opening and closing of the street are working reasonably well. Traffic flows on the old southern approaches to O’Connell Street have experienced some congestion.  However this was expected and is being continually monitored - the necessary improvements to resolve these issues are being implemented. Overall Sligo Borough Council is encouraged with results so far. It should be noted that traffic congestion on Wine Street, and Bridge Street is greatly
reduced and overall traffic flows along Castle Street are reduced. The city centre core is overall much more pedestrian friendly - a key objective of Sligo Borough Council.

Circulatory Route

In order to improve the workings of the new system, Sligo Borough Council strongly discourages motorists from using High St, Market St, Castle St, Grattan Street and John Street as through routes. These streets should be used only by motorists who are travelling into the core city centre to do business there. Motorists are encouraged to use a circulatory route which includes Teeling Street, Old Market Street, Connolly Street, Temple Street etc. In order to facilitate this route and ease traffic congestion the following plan will be implemented:

• A publicity campaign to highlight alternative routes including preparation and publication of maps.
• New signage to be erected to reflect the changed traffic flow situation.
• Making of Connolly Street one way southwards.
• Changing of the priority at Old Market Street/Burton Street. Stop sign to be placed on Burton Street with priority to traffic travelling  from Old Market to Connolly Street.
• A dedicated right turn traffic signal phase from John Street to Adelaide Street.
• Improvements in the signal phasing along Adelaide Street especially from the ‘Dunnes Stores’ link road to the Sligo Inner Relief Road.

In addition to encouraging motorists to take this newly defined circulatory route around the city centre, motorists are further encouraged to  plan their route prior to setting off and to avoid travelling along core city streets if the alternative routes such as the Sligo Inner Relief Road is available. The following are examples:

Those travelling from the South side eg Carraroe or Pearse Road area to areas on the North and West sides of the city centre eg the Hospital, Sligo IT, the Connaughton Road or Finisklin area should travel via the Sligo Inner Relief Road rather than trying to use Castle Street, John Street or the Mail Coach/Temple Street route.

Motorists requiring to travel from the Hospital/IT area to areas on the west side of Sligo, for example Maugheraboy or the Strandhill Road, should travel via Ash Lane and Hughes Bridge to the Sligo Inner Relief Road. Those starting out at the Connaughton Road car parks could  travel via Stephen Street to Markievicz Road to Hughes Bridge to the Sligo Inner Relief Road rather than travelling along Castle Street or John Street.

Motorists exiting eastern parts of the city and travelling North should travel via Old Market Street, Connolly Street, Temple Street to the Sligo Inner Relief Road.

Further alterations to traffic flows in the city centre to ease traffic congestion and reinforce a pedestrian friendly city centre are also being considered and are likely to be implemented in due course.

An overall review of Information and Directional Signage on approaches to Sligo and in Sligo city centre has also commenced.