Cork City Council approves plans to enhance North Docks, South Parish

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

Cork City Council has approved plans for a project on the city’s North Docks that will include a waterfront promenade with public realm spaces, active travel corridors, amenities and landscaping.

The development on the quays adjacent to Kent Train Station is part of the Cork City Doc klands Development Strategy, an ambitious plan which aims to turn the docklands, formerly a mainly industrial area, into a new urban quarter.

The Cork North Docks Public Realm and Transport Infrastructure scheme will create a ne w 6,000-square-metre public park along Water Street and a 700m-long waterfront promenade along Horgan’s Quay, with the area adjacent to the river designated as a pedestrian-only zone.

There will be a wide shared area at the upper level and the space between the two areas will incorporate green/activities spaces. A seating area will be built at the waterfront along with a mini-forest and rain garden with a pathway. The scheme will also involve realignment of a section of the N8 from Lower Glanmire Road to Alfred Street, five new pedestrian crossings, and the demolition of a dockside shed.

The objective is to “transform the quayside of the North Docks from a traffic-dominated area into a high-quality, legible, accessible and connected public amenity space with an activated and engaged waterfront,” the council said.

The city council has also given the green light to a public realm enhancement scheme in the historic South Parish. The area around Douglas Street will receive upgraded and widened footpaths, traffic calming measures and new pedestrian crossings as well as a change to traffic flow to one-way on some streets.

The upgrading of Douglas Street, Mary Street and White Street aims to improve the quality of life for residents of the area and enhance connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists, while “revitalising one of Cork City’s most historic and culturally vibrant quarters by restoring its distinctive ‘village within the city’ character,” the city council said.