O’Connell Street fully reopened to pedestrians and traffic on Friday 31st July.
O’Connell Street update
O’Connell Street Enhancement Project
Management of Street – Pedestrian Priority and ‘No Parking’
O’Connell Street fully reopened to pedestrians and traffic on Friday 31st July. Pedestrians and shoppers on the street can now enjoy increased comfort and ease of movement. The first phase of this street refurbishment project has delivered a quality metropolitan space and has maintained the cultural and heritage features of the street. The scheme has maximised connections to other pedestrian areas within the city centre. It has created the foundation for a dynamic and vibrant modern city area. The overall design ethos has been to improve the pedestrian experience on O’Connell Street and to attract people to the city centre. The streetscape has provided a notable transition from the motor vehicle to pedestrian priority for the inner-city core.
Previous traffic flow arrangements, prior to the street refurbishment project remain. However the street is significantly traffic calmed with much wider pedestrian footpaths and a much narrower travel lane for vehicles. Six specifically designated crossing points are provided for pedestrians. The street is designed to have a much more pedestrian friendly feel and vehicles are expected to respect and to give priority to pedestrians. The newly refurbished street is ‘strictly no parking’ except for two designated parking bays reserved for people with disabilities and who display the required disability permit and two loading bays which are strictly for goods vehicles only to use while loading or unloading goods for a maximum period of 30 minutes with no other parking allowed. A bus stop area is also provided. Motorists travelling down Harmony Hill must continue to turn left onto John Street.
It is now critical to ensure that this newly refurbished streetscape is managed and maintained so that it will be a safe and comfortable environment for all road users especially pedestrians and vulnerable road users. In this regard the public and especially vehicle users are reminded of the ‘Rules of the Road’ particularly with respect to parking and how these rules apply to O’Connell Street.
Vehicle users should note that even if you do not see a particular ‘no parking’ sign or line marking on a road it is an offence to park in the following situations. In particular you must not park:
- in any way which interferes with the normal flow of traffic, or which obstructs or endangers other road users particularly vulnerable road users.
- wholly or partly on a footpath.
- in a designated disabled persons parking space unless you display the required disability permit.
- within an area marked as a bus stop.
- in a loading bay (reserved for goods vehicles only to use while loading or unloading goods for a maximum period of 30 minutes)
It has been noted that when O’Connell Street opened temporarily to traffic in December 2019 and since it re-opened on July 31st last that many of the above parking regulations were not being observed. The public are reminded that the above offences are subject to parking fines and in some situations can be subject to penalty points. In order to ensure that the environment on O’Connell Street is managed in an orderly manner and remains a safe environment for all road users, vehicle users are asked to ensure that the ‘Rules of the Road’ with respect to parking and vehicular use, on O’Connell Street, are observed at all times.