Is this more promises said Tom Chambers

HOME News €150,000 Mill Street
€150,000 Mill Street
Monday, 16 March 2009
€150,000 Mill Street upgrade should get under way shortly


Neill O’Neill

PLANS are at an advanced stage to revamp Westport’s longest street, in a project that will cost upwards of €150,000.
Work should begin as soon as the public consultation period of six weeks is finished, and the aim of the project will be to bring Mill Street in line with other streets in the town, with projected tree bays, street crossings and general upgrade works to footpaths and kerbing.
Westport Town Architect, Simon Wall, told last week’s monthly meeting of Westport Town Council that there will be three raised street crossings as part of the plan – in front of Paddy Powers, in front of the new physiotherapy practice and in front of the Tidy Towns monument on The Fairgreen. There will be projected tree bays at a number of locations, including at the Mill Times Hotel, Herterich’s Butchers and Navin’s Funeral Home, to name a few. Two loading bays will be in place, one either side of the entrance to the hotel car park, while the work will mean the loss of six car-parking spaces.
However, Mr Wall also stated that parking spaces will be lined out on the street which will make for even more spaces than currently exist, and could negate the number of spaces lost to as low as one. Upgrades to kerbing and footpaths, including disability works, will also form part of the project, though the level of the street surface will not be raised. The trees used in the project will be among the biggest semi-mature trees ever brought into Ireland.
Another feature of the works will be the continuation of the footpath in front of the car-parking spaces at The Fairgreen, which will be marked out by a different colour surface, and should eliminate the practice of double-parking in the area.
Cllr Dave Keating, who has long campaigned for Mill Street to be upgraded, said he would not be complaining about this kind of investment, but called for the parking spaces outside the Grove Medical Centre to remain, and for the wishes of the residents to be part of the plan.
There were also calls to ensure that safety was the priority and not aesthetics, and Cllr Declan Dever asked that car-parking also be facilitated outside the pharmacy on Mill Street.
Cllr Tereasa McGuire questioned the wisdom of placing a loading bay outside private houses, and said she had reservations about the area around the clock where Mill Street, High Street, Bridge Street and Shop Street converge. Cllr Brendan Mulroy agreed with this assessment, saying the clock area needs to be re-negotiated as part of this proposal. He suggested re-opening the avenue at the back of the clock to free up traffic.
Westport Town Manager, Mr Peter Hynes, said that while the practicality and safety concerns of the proposal were key concerns, he would make no apology for considering the beauty of the town as an important part of this plan.
“A lot of the commerce of this town is dependent on its pretty image,” he stated