LIMERICK City and County Council said it is committed to the provision of a permanent park and ride facility at the Mackey Roundabout and is working to progress the scheme.
At November’s meeting of the Metropolitan District, Independent councillor Ursula Gavan asked for the local authority to bring clarity on the Mackey Roundabout park and ride. She asked this question, she explained, in light of a recent announcement from the Council regarding temporary park and ride plans.
“Why are lands which we bought for a park and ride only having a temporary one in time for the Ryder Cup and then being returned to its original state?” Cllr Gavan inquired.
Senior engineer at the Council’s Transportation and Mobility Directorate, Hugh McGrath, explained that the intention of the temporary facility at Mackey is to provide parking for attendees to the Ryder Cup with over 4,000 spaces. It will likely be made up of removable tracks and parking will be for the most part on grass.
“A critical aspect of the permanent park and ride will be the range of permanent multi mobility solutions and the permanent approach to the site will need to be developed with this in mind,” he said.
“This is likely to include consideration for high frequency city bus service, active travel, EV-charging, e-mobility, park and share, intercity and rural bus services, as well as airport services. We envisage that it will be more of a strategic multi mode mobility interchange than merely parking and bus provision.”