A NEW development that will deliver 1,400 much-needed new bed spaces for students in Castletroy is to be located on the “wrong side” of the Limerick to Dublin Road, according to one city councillor.
Speaking at the November Metropolitan District meeting, Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle called for conditioned financial contribution under the Development Contribution Scheme for the large-scale student development on the Groody Road in Castletroy to be ring-fence to build a much-needed slip road between it and the Dublin Road.
Cllr Doyle welcomed the student development, to be located near the University of Limerick (UL), which he said will bring relief to residential housing estates in the area. However, the location is a different matter.
“This development of five separate buildings units between five to eight stories high, each consisting of 196-bed clusters, will give us 1,400 beds for students. It’s just a pity it is on the wrong side of the Dublin to Limerick road,” Cllr Doyle opined.
The City East representative described how fortunate Limerick City is to have two universities with the Technological University of the Shannon campus in Moylish and UL in Plassey.
“UL currently has 2,200 staff and a student population of 19,000. This is a massive increase since I graduated from UL in 1984 and I note that the road infrastructure has not changed much in Castletroy,” Cllr Doyle said.
“Since then, the University of Limerick has confirmed that during the academic term, there are 18,000 vehicle movements in and out of UL campus over a 24-hour period. That’s 9,000 cars and vans in and 9,000 out from UL over a 24-hour period,” he explained.
Cllr Doyle also pointed out that the Dublin to Limerick Road, the R45 from Annacotty to the Parkway, the Golf Links Road (L116), and the Groody Road (L5173) all suffer huge congestion during peak times. He said the population of Castletroy has grown significantly over the last 20 years, resulting in Limerick City East being the largest populated local electoral area, at 39,653 people, in the 2022 Census.
“The residents of the housing estates adjacent to the Groody Road are locked in during peak times due to gridlock approaching the Groody Roundabout on the Dublin Road. A slipway towards Singland would reduce traffic congestion on the Groody Road and allow commuters travelling into Limerick City to use the proposed slip road,” Cllr Doyle suggested.
Cllr Sarah Kiely (FG) supported the proposal, calling for it to be seriously considered, but also warned not to punish students who rely on their cars.
“Whether they’re travelling to and from college and just parking their cars wherever they can while they go to class, because obviously UL has their own issues and could do a bit more to discourage car parking or car usage. We seem to be doing things after the fact instead of before, so I’d question the planning aspect of this as well,” Cllr Kiely concluded.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme