Major traffic chaos predicted if Navan project goes ahead

While the merits of the refurbishment plan for the Watergate Street/Market Square area of Navan have to be acknowledged, the proposal by Navan Town Council raises important issues in relation to traffic management and car parking, local Fine Gael councillor Jim Holloway said this week. The councillor has taken issue with some aspects of the plan and, in a submission, refers to the clear intention to effect a significant upgrade of the area, "something which is much needed". The project is due to start this month. Cllr Holloway said the plan to reduce the road from two lanes to one lane of traffic from the vehicular entrance to the Meath Chronicle premises to Byrne's Hairdresser's could only result in a further worsening of traffic congestion, not only in Watergate Street and Market Square but also in Trimgate Street and Kennedy Road. "The plan does not demonstrate how capacity for current levels of traffic can be accommodated by the proposal to reduce the road width. The Navan Development Plan 2003-2009 stresses the importance of a strong town centre, its regeneration and development. He said the road infrastructure for Navan "involves the construction of a local distributor road 'C-ring' around Navan". Furthermore, the Navan Integrated Development Plan recommended the establishment of a clear road hierarchy in which each of the road links had a function and where the mixing of national, regional and local traffic was reduced to the minimum possible. He said the majority of the road infrastructure, mainly the distributor road, would be required within the lifetime of the Navan Development Plan if the town centre and regeneration and development was to succeed. The success of the proposed plan depended on three pieces of infrastructure being in place before work began, namely phase 2B of the Navan Inner Relief Road, the section of the distributor road linking the current N3 to the Trim Road and also the M3. "This is not to say that what is contained in the proposal put forward by Navan Town Council is not in line with the vision contained in the Navan Development Plan, which seeks to minimise vehicular traffic through the narrow street network in the centre of the town where the aim is to create a vibrant urban area with a good provision of public transport, reduced congestion and an attractive urban centre, which is not dominated by the car" and where the requirement is for "an integrated strategy combining land use, all modes of transportation and traffic management, with the emphasis on the movement of people and goods, not just vehicles". The plan proposed "rationalisation of parking layouts". Cllr Holloway said that the layout plan made clear there would be six fewer car parking spaces in the Market Square/Watergate Street area than were currently there. "Such a proposal, at this stage, without having alternative car parking spaces, will have a negative impact on commercial activity in the area, particularly given the nature of the businesses operating in the area and in the absence of the other pieces of infrastructure being in place," he added. Following on from the reduction in car parking on Kennedy Road, there is a need to demonstrate how the effects of a further reduction in one-street car parking in the Market Square/Watergate Street proposal can be addressed to as to ensure the viability of commercial activity in the subject area, Cllr Holloway went on. The FG councillor said there was an urgent need to upgrade both streets. "However, the plan proposed challenges the aims of the objectives contained in the Navan Development Plan 2003-2009. The requirement to foster the development of Navan on the basis of the key land use and transportation issues are enshrined in the Navan Development Plan 2003-2009 and are paramount. It is also essential that the upgrade of Watergarte Street/Market Square goes ahead as soon as possible. It is something that I give my full support to. However, there are key issues in relation to road infrastructure and car parking that, it would appear, are not addressed in the proposed plan," he concluded.