Social distancing will require wider paths and some pedestrianisation
A MAYO councillor has reiterated the need to adjust pavements, streetscapes, traffic flows and parking areas to facilitate social distancing and pedestrian movement in our towns.
Councillor Peter Flynn tabled a motion on the issue at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council to best position businesses to open swiftly once the Covid-19 restrictions are eased. Business owners would be consulted as part of the process.
A debate by councillors on the matter didn't take place at the meeting as all motions were deferred for a month.
The Westport-based councillor had flagged his idea, which would include widening footpaths, alternative ways to utilise public spaces and possible pedestrianisation of certain areas, on social media.
In an update, he said the debate was not just about Bridge Street in Westport but about every street in our town centres around the county, and it's about established and new businesses who face different challenges in terms of big rents and debt.
It was, he said, hopefully about short term changes until a vaccine is found or the virus burns out.
Said Councillor Flynn: “Right now many of our footpaths are barely two metres wide and many premises are relatively small or narrow. If we want people back on the streets we need to facilitate queuing outside certain premises which allows people to pass safely.
“For restaurants and bars to open we need to give them additional capacity and the only way to do this is the use of the area outside their premises.
“The easy thing for every politician to do is to ignore all and do nothing. In my opinion if we do this we will compromise people's health and many businesses will never open their doors again.
“The people with the greatest spend capacity are people who are retired or close to retirement and younger people who have not started the mortgage/family part of life.
Do we think people who are on the older side of the spectrum are going to risk catching the virus if we don't facilitate social distancing? Do we think young people will come into our town centres if there are no restaurants and bars open?”
He continued: “I am old enough to remember the '80s when most hotels and restaurants closed in October and stay closed until early summer. The main visitors to towns were returning emigrants and the only traffic problem was the price of fuel.
“None of us want to create this scenario for our towns. In my view if we are brave and use creative solutions we can make the best of a bad situation.
“My opinion, for what it is worth, is that we should keep traffic flows going as normal but we narrow up traffic lanes as much as possible, eliminate the bulk of our car parking on the streets except for some short set down spots and we make as much use of our open spaces to allow businesses to take part of their businesses out into public areas. I have shopped, dined and had a drink in locations wetter and colder than Ireland through the use of outdoor heaters and outdoor covering.
“Right now we need to find fast solutions for the present moment.”