PROPOSAL: Add an objective, “Provision increased numbers of bike racks throughout the town to encourage active travel.”
RATIONALE: There are insufficient bike racks at present, which likely discourages many residents and visitors from cycling in town to do shopping etc. Increased active travel is key for meeting the second goal of the KCDP, transitioning to a low-carbon society.
PROPOSAL: Add an objective, “Implement higher parking fees for SUVs due to the additional space they take up and the additional air pollution attributable to them.”
RATIONALE: Killarney has a compact town centre with narrow streets. SUVs take up significant space, and generally emit more fumes that non-SUVs, so their use in the town centre should be discouraged to ensure Killarney remains a healthy and living town.
PROPOSAL: Add an objective, “Not to undertake the building of new roads to alleviate traffic due to the risk that new roads will increase instead of decrease private vehicle traffic volume overall due to a more attractive road infrastructure. Improved active travel infrastructure should be provided instead.”
RATIONALE: It is known that in many cases the creation of new roads does not alleviate traffic but actually increases traffic congestion due to the additional new road infrastructure being more attractive to drive. Additional roads also take up significant space, and this method of attempting to reduce congestion is not sustainable in the long run.
PROPOSAL: Add an objective, “Cycling infrastructure should be sufficiently protected and designs should accord with the latest cycling infrastructure design standards.”
RATIONALE: It is not sufficient to simply create more bike lanes etc. when developing cycling infrastructure. There is significant difference in quality between a well-designed and a poorly designed cycling plan, and it is key that cycling is made as safe and attractive as possible to ensure the benefits from active travel accrue to Killarney and its residents.
PROPOSAL: Add an objective: “Develop protected cycling infrastructure within a least a kilometre of all schools within the Killarney region to encourage active travel school journeys.”
RATIONALE: MaREI centre research (Microsoft Word - How and Why We Travel – Mobility Demand and Emissions from Passenger Transport - MaREI Template.docx) has shown that companion/escort journeys (such as dropping off children to school) have the highest emissions intensity by journey purpose, and comprise over one tenth of all journeys in Ireland.. Providing safe and accessible opportunities for children to cycling to school should decrease the volume of such journeys, increasing air quality, reducing congestion and dangerous driving at school locations, and encourage a healthier lifestyle for children.