• REIMAGINING A CITY - THE PEDESTRIANISATION OF 17 STREETS IN CORK CITY

Cork City Council is continuing to implement a programme of measures to support the local economy and to support both residents and the public in living and working in the city centre and town centres while we all learn to live with this Pandemic and as Government direction allows in response to the various levels of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19.

In cities across Europe there is emerging evidence of the reallocation of additional road space to walking and cycling in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly being pursued as the best available option to safely facilitate the movement of a considerable volume of people to work, education and amenities. While this approach protects health and well - being, all interventions have been fully considered across all stakeholder interest groups.

A number of streets in Cork City were temporarily pedestrianised last summer (2020) as part of the “Reimagining Cork City”

COVID response programme of activities. The aim of this project was to facilitate social distancing and outdoor dining as well supporting businesses and creating an appropriately COVID compliant “buzz” around the City following a period of lockdown. Following an overwhelmingly positive reaction to this pilot initiative and following a series of extensive public consultations, it was agreed to permanently pedestrianise 17 of these

streets as of and from January 1, 2021. In order to support the commercial activities in this pedestrianised core area, some of these streets are available for deliveries to take place between 4:00am and 9:30am/11:00am (depending on the individual street).

The map above shows the spatial relationships between that new and existing street pedestrianisations in Cork City Centre. Projects to deliver on the Cityʼs clear and coherent strategic plan for a new and vibrant City centre are now well under way. The ultimate goal is to create a vibrant urban zone that is recognised as a destination and a attractive for people to visit. In addition to pedestrianisations the various other initiatives included in this overarching plan include:

1. Greening of the City 2. Moss walls to improve air quality 3. Clean air zones 4. Urban parklets 5. Enhanced (and free) street furniture licenses for businesses (2020 & 2021) 6. Improved sustainable transport measures 7. Footpath buildouts creating more space on footpath for reuse 8. Additional cycle lanes 9. Cycle lane protection 10. Bike parking 11. Reprioritisation of street uses

To enhance the street surfaces of the newly pedestrianised streets, making them more pleasant and safer for residents, shoppers and diners, the City Council has resurfaced all of these streets with a special tarmac surface which is more suitable for pedestrian uses due to its fine grained composition.

A very significant branding initiative was also undertaken. The purpose of this branding exercise was to introduce the reimagination initiatives in a coherent and friendly manner. All of the various initiatives listed above were all tied together under this umbrella brand. This facilitated understanding of how all if the interventions linked together to compliment one another.

The Cork City spirit is nothing if not resilient. Just over a century ago Cork faced down the devastation of the Burning of Cork and now the City is again ready to rise from the ashes of Covid19, with new and innovative ways of living, working and doing business, reimagining our cityʼs infrastructure.

Cork City Council is committed to supporting the local economy, businesses, residents and visitors to Cork City as the City reopens and onward into the post-pandemic future. The permanent pedestrianisation of these streets is a measure that accelerates our long-term vision of creating sustainable urban growth. All of these works being undertaken by Cork City Council are aimed at making the city a safe, inclusive and pleasant place for residents, shoppers & visitors and to support local business. Encouraging people to live in, shop in, recreate in and visit Cork City is of critical importance to the City going forward and to the future vitality of the City as an attractive and desirable place to be.