Traders in Ballina-Killaloe oppose plan to pedestrianise old bridge over River Shannon

A MOVE to pedestrianise the old bridge across the River Shannon in Ballina-Killaloe, once the new bridge is opened in March, has met with vehement opposition from people living in the two towns.

Local traders say the highly controversial proposal not to allow motorised traffic on the 18th century bridge would be bad for business and a major inconvenience for residents of Ballina and Killaloe and surrounding areas.

“We are all completely disillusioned over the fact that this could be even considered,” Killaloe businessman, James Whelan, owner of the Killaloe River Cruises company, told The Guardian.

Mr Whelan said that due to major traffic congestion, people living on both sides of the river had been waiting for a new bridge for over 30 years.

However, he said the plan to pedestrianise the old bridge from the day the new bridge opened had never been considered, until now.

He said there was a reference in the Town Mobility Plan for Ballina-Killaloe, launched in 2022, to look at introducing pedestrianisation of the old bridge on a trial basis. But no trader in the community thought full pedestrianisation was going to be introduced once the new bridge opened.

“I have yet to meet a businessperson on either side of the bridge that accepts this proposal. The old bridge is the vital link between the two communities,” said Mr Whelan.

He said many of the vital services of Ballina-Killaloe were located on the Killaloe side of the river, such as the post office, library, bank, credit union, garda and fire stations.

Pedestrianisation of the old bridge would force people living in Ballina to drive a significant distance out of their way onto an outer loop route to cross over the new bridge situated 1.2 kilometres downstream of the old bridge to get to Killaloe.

“This move to pedestrianise the old bridge would be totally discommoding for people.”

MAJOR IMPACTS

Mr Whelan said the move to close the old bridge to motorised traffic would also have major impacts on the Killaloe side. All traffic coming in from Ennis and West Clare would bypass the town via the new Killaloe bypass and new bridge. “If we send them all out on the bypass they are going to end up in Limerick. We need to keep things convenient for visitors,” he said.

As for the impacts on his own river cruise business, Mr Whelan said: “It is not feasible for my customers to park in Killaloe and walk across the bridge. Likewise, it is not feasible for customers from Ballina to be expected to walk across to Killaloe.

“That won’t work. We are a small rural community and we need to keep ourselves connected.”

Business would also suffer in Ballina as traffic coming in from the Birdhill direction would bypass the town via the new bridge.

WEIGHT LIMIT

Mr Whelan said nobody was against the move to introduce a three-ton weight limit on vehicles using the old bridge, which he said had to be kept open to motorised traffic to allow the fire brigade and gardaí stationed in Killaloe to get across to Ballina swiftly.  Mr Whelan said the current numbers of pedestrians using old bridge to walk between Ballina and Killaloe did not justify it closure to motorised traffic.

He said the local committee was planning a campaign of action aimed at preventing the pedestrianisation of the bridge.

“We have spoken to a lot of public representatives on the Tipperary and the Clare side and hopefully people power will have an impact.”

DISASTER

Contacted for his reaction by The Guardian, Brian Farrell, who runs the Centra store in Ballina, said of the pedestrianisation plan: “It would be an absolute disaster for the area. You are adding three or four times to the journey length taken by local people to move between Ballina and Killaloe by forcing all motorised traffic out onto the bypass.”

Mr Farrell said local businesses were still recovering from all the impacts of the Covid pandemic as well as the major traffic disruptions in the subsequent years since building works started on the new bridge and Killaloe bypass.

Mr Farrell urged the local authorities involved, Clare and Tipperary County Councils, to undertake surveys to access traffic trends before making the radical move to close the old bridge to motorised traffic. “Why not gather data first for 12 months and see then. What’s the rush?”

Mr Farrell said a lot of people on boths sides of the river were  very angry over the proposal, which is currently going through a public consultation process.

Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe said that following his meetings with local business people he felt, that for now at least, the old and new bridge remain open to traffic for a number of months to enable an informed decision to be made.

While he accepted the argument that pedestrianising the old bridge might be beneficial for tourism, he did not agree that locals should be forced out onto an outer loop route via the new bridge and bypass to move between the two towns. “I think we should be facilitating the local motorist making the local route.”