Since Thursday, August 9, private cars and trucks have been re-routed away from St Patrick’s Street between 3.00pm and 6.30pm.

During this 3.5 hour period, access to St. Patrick’s St is limited to buses, taxis, emergency vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

The changes to traffic flow in Cork are due to exciting developments in the city. Cork city centre will soon have over 10,000 additional new jobs, 5,000 over the next three years and our traffic management system needs to be updated if we are to keep the city and its growing workforce moving.

Cork City Council would like to advise motorists to be aware of these new routes when travelling from work, collecting children from school, visiting the city centre to shop or socialise.

The re-introduction of the bus priority corridor is accompanied by a series of ' Super 7' measures to improve and encourage access to the city centre:

* Bus Eireann has reduced bus fares in Cork's Red Urban Zone to just €1 after 2pm every day with a Leap Card from August 9th to September 15

* The Park And Ride service has been extended with additional stops at Merchants Quay, St Patrick’s St, Grand Parade and South Mall to improve connectivity between the Park and Ride and city centre.

* A network of 26 free 15-minute set down parking spaces has been established on South Mall, Grand Parade, Parnell Place, Drawbridge & Cornmarket St to facilitate shoppers and visitors.

* From August 9, half price parking is being offered at Paul Street and North Main Street Car Parks from 1pm to 6.30pm.

* The opening hours of the city’s Park And Ride service will be extended to between 7am and 8pm.

* The Park And Ride will be free of charge from 12 noon

* Passengers on the northbound 203 and 215 buses will also be stopping on St. Patrick’s St. for the first time.

A considerable body of engineering work has already been completed by Cork City Council on the city quays to facilitate the changes which are limited to St. Patrick’s Street only. Traffic signals have been changed so that traffic is moving faster. Even in the short period in which the changes operated in March/April last, bus journey times showed decreases of up 28% and car journey times in the city centre also showed significant improvements.

The new traffic arrangements will allow the city’s buses to transport people in the city centre much more quickly and efficiently. Last year, 12.6 million people used city bus services and St. Patrick’s St. is the main public transport “hub” with almost 1,000 buses using the street each day.

The changes due to take place on St. Patrick’s St. are a small but important step towards the establishment of a rapid transit system linking Ballincollig and Mahon, via the city centre, including the Docklands.

The bus priority corridor is a key element in the City Centre Movement Strategy (CCMS) which seeks to address the serious traffic management issues associated with welcome economic growth.

Traffic congestion in Cork is now worse than it was at the height of the economic boom in 2007. Two thirds of the 110,000 vehicles entering the city centre every day are using it as a “through route” to other destinations. This through traffic brings no benefit to businesses in the city and makes it more difficult for those who work, visit and shop in the city centre to get around.