Some footpaths too wide?
The Mayor of the County of Cork has pledged to personally measure the width of a road in a West Cork village after claiming some footpaths in the county are wide enough to land a plane on.
Speaking at Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, Mayor of Cork Cllr Danny Collins said he has received a number of complaints from residents of Glengarriff regarding the width of footpaths in the village.
He said at a particular spot, the excessive width of the footpath has made the road too narrow for large trucks and other vehicles to navigate safely.
“Something has to be done with this footpath because it's ridiculously wide and there's going to be a serious accident.
“There's footpaths going down now where you could nearly land (Boeing) 747s on,” said Mayor Collins.
The mayor also said at Monday’s meeting of the council that he had received a text from a woman who was walking with her young child when a truck mounted the curb right next to them.
Also speaking at the meeting was Fianna Fáil Cllr Joe Carroll who said there is a similar and “ridiculous” situation in Dunmanway.
The councillor then called for “a bit of common sense” from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
Cllr Carroll told those at the meeting: “When you go into the town you're not too sure whether you should put the car up on the footpath or keep it on the road because the footpath is nearly wider than the road.”
He continued: “It is a great idea if you have a new town, but you can't be putting them down in old towns.”
However, defending the widening of footpaths in the context of the climate crisis was Independent Cllr Liam Quaide.
The former Green Party counillor explained: “For so long our urban infrastructure has been developed around vehicles and putting pedestrians and cyclists last.
“It is going to require change and it is going to require compromise,” added Cllr Quaide at the county council meeting.
Following the debate, it was agreed the issue would be discussed at the next Roads SPC before a letter is sent to the TII.