Wicklow County Council row back on plans to make traffic in Delgany village one way
The Wicklow PeopleWicklow County Council appear to have rowed back on plans to make traffic in Delgany village one way, in an effort to improve pedestrian and cycling infrastructure around the Convent Road.
Convent Road in its current state does not provide facilities to cater for pedestrians to safely navigate and cross along the route.
The scheme aims to support the objectives of the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan (2023) and the National Cycle Network Plan (2023). The scheme will also support the specific objectives of the Greystones-Delgany-Kilcoole Local Area Plan, which is currently being updated, and the Wicklow County Development Plan which remains valid until 2028.
The existing Convent Road layout is car-dominant in nature with poor pedestrian facilities and no dedicated cyclist facilities. In general, all facilities are in poor condition, including the condition of footpaths and road pavement.
There is poor connectivity between different sections of footpath along the route with many gaps and obstacles present throughout which inhibits accessibility for vulnerable road users. The footpaths in most locations are in very poor condition with cracking apparent in many cases.
District councillors in Greystones were first presented with a report during their July monthly meeting, with seven options being proposed.
Representatives from the Active Travel team within the local authority initially believed option 4 is the best way forward and has reached phase 3 – the preliminary design stage.
Option 4 would have provided for a one-way system with widened footpaths and additional room for increased public realm spaces. It did not, however, allow cyclists to travel by bicycle northwards along the road.
Cyclists would have had to either divert eastwards to Delgany Wood Avenue or dismount and walk their bicycle northwards.
Members of the Delgany Community Council didn’t believe the options available were fully explored and properly evaluated.
Under the proposed one-way scheme, parking for residents who don’t have their own private parking would not have been permitted, with one single on street car parking space reserved for disability parking.
This would have meant no parking in the village would have been permitted apart from spaces that are in privately owned business car parks including the Wicklow Arms and the Horse and Hound.
Following an extensive consultation with members of the Delgany Community Council, council officials told district councillors at their December monthly meeting they are now moving forward with Option 7, which allows for a two-way system with widened footpaths and a mini roundabout.
This option meets minimum design standards for all modes of transport under the proposed layout, generally achieving necessary design widths (subject to commensurate reduction in traffic volumes), albeit localised pinch points where it will be necessary to reduce footpath width to 1.6m, while allowing cyclists to travel by bicycle in both directions along the route.
However, there is a requirement to acquire land from a third party to provide a mini roundabout of sufficient diameter to permit U-turns within one single manoeuvre.
In addition, the lack of room, created in other options though use of one-way road system means a similar lack of space to create improved public realm. Overall, the benefits of removing through traffic are large for the public realm and local area.
However, this option does not provide as much space for pedestrians and the public realm as Option 4, it also requires land take for the construction of the roundabout, and for these reasons it is ranked behind the options that create a one-way system for traffic to increase footpath space.
However Option 7 was developed in consultations with Wicklow County Council and stakeholders with an aim to provide an option with significant reduction in traffic in both directions, even further than that provided by Option 4.
This option has benefits associated with the reduced traffic, however it does not provide more room for pedestrians nor increased Public Realm Space compared to Option 4.
There was a widespread welcome for the proposals with Cllr Tom Fortune saying he was looking forward to seeing how these works will lead to improvements for other villages in the district.
Both councillors Orla Finn and Louise Fenlon Gaskin acknowledged how important it was that common ground was found between residents and council staff about the proposals.
Cllr Lourda Scott believes it is a shame that it took four years for the plans to to get to this point.
She also paid tribute to members of the Community Council and called for a review to take place to help guide future projects.
Following a question from Cllr Mark Barry, officials from the project team, after acknowledging the frustration the initial proposals caused for residents in the area, confirmed a Part 8 planning application for the project will be submitted in Q1 2026.
It’s expected works will get underway in Q1 of 2027.