Chapter 10 I Key Growth Areas & Neighbourhood Development Sites
10.216 In common with other urban towns and the
10.213 Ballincollig requires more leisure activities in the form of cafés, restaurants and accessible green space and it is considered that the Times Square Area immediately south of Main Street / Carrigrohane Road is the optimal location for an initiative aimed at diversifying the retail and leisure offering of the town. (See Future Initiatives).
established City, future transport and Connectivity in Ballincollig will be guided by the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Study (CMATS). The National Transport Authority (NTA) published CMATS in 2020. The proposals for Ballincollig include a new light rail service, high frequency and local feeder bus services and enhanced walking and cycling infrastructure. 10.217 This plan will transform commuting from and within Ballincollig, enhancing its role as a residential and employment destination. Ballincollig has a well- developed cycling network and has the potential to be well linked to the City owing to existing infrastructure and geographical proximity. Good quality cycling facilities have been introduced in Ballincollig Regional Park, Old Fort Road, and the Main Street in recent years and these will be incorporated into the Cork Cycle Network Plan which has now been subsumed in CMATS where they will be further developed as part of 16 proposed cycle routes and 4 Greenways. 10.218 Ballincollig has benefited from public transport improvements in recent years most notably the introduction of Ireland’s first 24-hour bus service which connects Ballincollig to Carrigaline via the City Centre. This will be further built on initially with the introduction of BusConnects, a high frequency bus service linking the town with the City Centre and other suburbs, and a local bus service within the settlement, followed by Light Rail which will connect Ballincollig with Mahon via the City Centre and Kent Station providing significantly improved connectivity for the area. 10.219 Ballincollig has good roads infrastructure, parking facilities and enjoys good access to the National Road network. The town also has a relatively good internal road network however as the town grows it is important that other roads are improved to keep pace with the additional traffic volumes particularly from new development areas to the south. Further improvements to pedestrian and cycling facilities are also required. Ballincollig will form the western terminus of the proposed N40 Cork Northern Relief Road and the preferred route corridor will be protected from inappropriate development once the route has been finalised.
Employment
10.214 Recent data available to Cork City Council indicates that there are currently 5,002 people employed locally within the town primarily in Information and Communications Technology, professional services, retail, logistics and education with the overwhelming majority of these workers commuting into Ballincollig from elsewhere. Of the resident population 8,401 people are in employment with over 80% of these workers commuting to jobs elsewhere in the City and Metropolitan Area. This represents a net outflow of approximately 3,400 workers from Ballincollig which is an issue Cork City Council will attempt to address during the lifetime of this Plan via the identification of more employment areas and opportunities within the town. Ballincollig is also very close to the proposed Cork Science and Innovation Park at Curraheen which may be an important employment location in future.
Connectivity and Transportation
10.215 Connectivity and mobility both within and from Ballincollig has improved considerably in recent years. Significant public realm improvements on Main street have prioritised pedestrians and cyclists over private cars. However, the town is still very heavily car dependent with only 18% using green or public transport modes to commute to work and school.
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Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 I Volume 1
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