Car free: a good idea done poorly?
This leads us to the inevitably of pedestrianisation, which is another flashpoint for traders in some areas. Last year’s pilot project on Lower Tullow Street closed the area off to cars on weekends, aiming to create a festival atmosphere. But Mr Doyle from Andy’s Music says the roll-out caused confusion and hurt his footfall.
“When they pedestrianised Tullow Street there, it killed us. It absolutely murdered us. And the thing we didn’t like is that we weren’t consulted about it beforehand.” Barry White echoes that frustration: “We weren’t the only ones to complain. Pedestrianisation is a great idea, but maybe consult the businesses and just ask for their opinion, because it has impacted them.” Popping across the street to talk to Maggie, the owner of Little Panda’s Asia Market, the same issue arises. Maggie says they weren’t consulted either about the pedestrianisation pilot and that their queries to Carlow County Council about it went unanswered.
“I met one of the councillors, they had a chat about it and they said that I wasn't the only one to say that. The majority of local businesses said the same thing,” adds Mr Doyle.
Carlow County Council’s stance, articulated by Kieran Comerford, is that events-based pedestrianisation – carefully planned and scheduled – can actually bolster footfall: “The result of the pilot was that traders want an approach that is based around events. It’s pedestrianisation that is appropriate and all to do with placemaking,” he says.
Even so, some retailers on neighbouring streets like Castle Street or Dublin Street felt effectively cut off. Cllr John Cassin remarked publicly that footfall plummeted on those streets whenever festival music and foot traffic were channelled only towards Tullow Street.
Mr O’Reilly, however, sees pedestrianisation as key to creating the vibrant public spaces that respondents of the Your Carlow survey overwhelmingly wanted. “I was surprised how positive people were around it and very happy with the overall number (of respondents),” he said about the survey results, which showed pedestrian-friendly streets, trees and greenery, and safe street seating topping the wish list for the town centre.
He notes the tension between cars and public space: “You could argue that Dublin Street is oppressed by cars. It’s quite funny that all the images that are shared of a vibrant Dublin Street or Tullow Street either have horses and carts on them, bicycles, or very small cars. We have much wider cars now, we have too much traffic and parking; it can make it feel quite oppressive.” Still, Mr O’Reilly acknowledges business concerns: “I would like to point out to shopkeepers that the respondents who want this are their customers,” but he says he’s cognisant that “it’s what’s in the till at the end of the day” that counts, and while ideals are great, people need to make money, pay staff and pay rent on their premises. “I do accept that and we will do our best to take that on board.”
