Pedestrianisation of Athlone side streets mooted

The possibility of some of the side streets leading to the River Shannon in Athlone becoming fully pedestrianised in the future has been raised by a senior Westmeath County Council planner.

"There's a number of streets that lead down from Church Street to the Strand. There's potential to look at pedestrianising them, and making them more attractive so that we can bring footfall down to those areas," said Cathaldus Hartin.

The council official was speaking at a recent 'Our Streets' webinar organised by Athlone Chamber of Commerce. The event was hosted by Westmeath Independent editor Tadhg Carey and also featured contributions from Andrew Carberry, a director at Power Property; Tony Johnston, head of the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Studies at TUS; and Athlone Chamber CEO Gerry McInerney.

Mr Hartin described the River Shannon as Athlone's "biggest asset" and said the local authority was looking at a number of possible ways in which it could be better utilised.

One project that has been discussed for a number of years is the introduction of a boardwalk along the river, and Mr Hartin indicated that this was still a live possibility.

He said the boardwalk could link in with the forthcoming cycle and pedestrian bridge over the river, and that it would be a way of "really tying everything together".

"There is definitely potential to strengthen access along the banks of the waterfront and to open up the views from some of the restaurants down around the Left Bank area," he said

"There's interest in how we take advantage of the water - can we put services on the water? For example, you have restaurants along the Quays in Dublin. Is that something we can do, and what infrastructure is required to do that? Those are all areas that we will be considering."

He also said consideration should be given to what gatherings and events might be possible along the town's riverside.

"There needs to perhaps be a focus on what entertainment, festivals and other forms of gatherings we can bring in and relate to what is a unique asset in Athlone.

"(There could be) funfairs down around the water, and new civic and amenity spaces. These are all considerations that we'll be looking at, and putting together guidance for, in terms of the future."

He added that the local authority was keen to get the views of the public on how Athlone could make better use of its riverside setting.

"It's good to open up the conversation on the waterfront and it would be interesting to get the wider public's views on what they see as their vision for the area, and how they think it could be better utilised for the benefit of Athlone," he commented.