u/Agusfresin

The Headford Road is an appallingly bad example of 1970’s urban design. It is laid out like a US out of town low density retail strip in a district just northwest of the historic city centre.

It suffers from among other things:

Depressing, ugly and featureless low level retail buildings dominated by fractured parking.

Large retail estates disconnected from each other with very poor permeability for pedestrians and cars.

A noisy, polluted streetscape hostile to active travel and with extremely inefficient traffic management which contributes greatly to the city’s congestion problems.

Very poor public transport provision.

Intersected by city’s busiest road with very few and hostile pedestrian and cycle crossings.

Almost total lack of housing despite its central location and space to provide it.

Poorly integrated to nearby river, park and totally lacking in quality public realm and cultural/community use.

Embarrassing and incoherent district which feels as though it was unplanned and lacks any sense of place.

Amazed that this place only went up in 2012. It is totally car centric and a hostile environment for pedestrians and cyclists. It’s not even great for motorists tbh. Chunky high kerbs everywhere, illogical system for cars, poorly connected to community and public transport. It is soulless and ugly. No thought given to placemaking, culture or community. Planners just keep repeating the same mistakes locking in congestion, ugliness and car dependence.

Visiting cork and shocked by how unsafe and uncomfortable the city centre is for pedestrians. Drivers are very impatient, lots of honking, traffic on Summerhill north and Middle Glanmire Road off the scale fast, including buses and taxis!!

Just passed scene of what looked like a bad car crash on N59 near Moycullen. Gardaí in attendance directing traffic either side of crash in turn. While waiting I was struck by how many people coming towards me from other side of crash were using their phones on top of steering wheel (probably rubber necking).

One in a tractor had phone up to ear in full conversation! Another commercial van taking photos!

Not one of these people seemed bothered using a phone around the scene of a crash and with a heavy Garda presence actually directing their movement.

The penny just hasn’t dropped in Ireland how serious this is. We have very little regard for safety on the roads and an appalling attitude to phone use in motor vehicles.