You won’t miss the town bus! It’s not coming till 2023

News that the Mullingar town bus service is not likely to run before 2023 sparked outrage among councillors at a meeting last week. Members of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad (MDMK) committee declared that the public need to be made aware that the service is not around the corner.

The meeting heard that the two bus routes for the town have been identified following public consultation, and that design and planning will proceed while funds are awaited.

Members were advised that the final decision on the proposed service will lie with the executive, not them.

Pat Keating, director of services, said that the executive will, however, consult the councillors in relation to layout, location of bus stops and other matters.

Mr Keating admitted that he was “a bit surprised myself that it was going to take longer than I would have thought, but I appreciate there is a lot of design and processing to be done”. He said he knew that the Mullingar bus service was top priority with the National Transport Authority and in the local area and county development plan. “The executive are very keen to see it done and are working very closely with the NTA,” he said.

Following public consultation, two bus routes were identified – one running from Clonmore Heights to Lakepoint shopping centre and the other from Ballinderry Road to Lough Sheever Corporate Park. The routes would take in key locations such as the train station, the primary medical centre and the regional hospital, and the possibility of including St Loman’s hospital is being examined. Fares would be €2 per trip for cash and €1.40 on a Leap card.

The NTA want both routes to be equal in travel time. The first route would take 40 minutes and the second 20 minutes. That could mean that instead of running every 30 minutes, buses on the first route would run every hour and that is not something they want to do.

They have been looking at ways to even out the route times. One option would be to go from Clonmore Heights through Mullingar Business Park, Patrick Street, the train station, up Castle Street and on to Lough Sheever Corporate Park. The other route would run from Ballinderry to the train station, on to the link road, down Castle Street, on to Dublin Road, Marlinstown Business Park and Lakepoint shopping centre.

That would even out the route times and provide a bus every 10 minutes in Harbour Street and Castle Street.

Ninety three submissions were made during the public consultation, but members pointed out that many of those were joint submissions made by several signatories. The outcome of the public consultation was that most contributors did not want the buses going through housing estates for safety reasons and wanted to avoid their estates becoming “rat runs” for motorists.

The chairperson of the MDMK committee, Cllr Aoife Davitt, made the point that 93 submissions represented a lot more than 93 individuals as many of the submissions were from groups that could include 40 or more individuals. She asked that the proposed route ending at Lakepoint shopping centre be extended to the roundabout at St Loman’s Hospital to facilitate thousands of residents from Lakepoint and Great Oaks as well as those attending Breast Check at St Loman’s.

Cllr Ken Glynn said: “That’s a very different message – there is a firm belief out there that this is coming sooner rather than later and people have an expectation. I was taken aback by the fact that it could be a long way away yet.” Cllr Denis Leonard added: “This is falling off the agenda and there is only one way to get it back on – through the National Development Plan.” He said that the plan announced two weeks ago established a 2:1 ratio of public transport over roads. We need a bus service to relieve traffic in the town and why has the initial time scale proposed 18 months ago fallen back at a time when pubic transport is being prioritised, he asked. “It’s time to move on with it.”

Cllr Emily Wallace worried that the report would gather dust on a shelf and resented the fact that people were riled up about buses going through their estates or excited that the service was coming – for nothing. “For it to sit with no tangible future date is not acceptable,” she said. She was assured that the report would “evolve” as background works go ahead while funding is awaited.

Cllr Mick Dollard said there are going to be a lot of housing developments in the Ardmore Road and Marlinstown areas as land is rezoned as residential in the Mullingar Area Action Plan. The NTA would have to look at Mullingar in the context of such developments, he suggested.

Cllr Bill Collentine supports a bus service that did not go through housing estates and that covered all areas, including those a long way outside town. It was Cllr Collentine who asked what the fare on the new service would be.

Addressing the meeting, John Nott of the NTA said that Covid has affected revenue from public transport and was likely to continue for do so for the coming year – however, he revealed that town bus services have been the first to pick up and are likely to exceed pre-pandemic usage in some cases.

Mr Nott said he heard the frustration coming through from members, but assured them that the project is high on the NTA agenda. He said that it has been a challenge to keep the network going in the last 20 months and indications are that that will continue, but there is an obvious demand for local services.

He went on to say that they will be working on the design and planning of the service, tendering for operators and layering up any infrastructural works that have to be done while they are waiting for funding. Typically, such works take 18 to 20 months and they will be ready to go ahead when the monies are available.

Mr Nott said that the views expressed at the public consultation regarding going through housing estates have been heard loud and clear and are being taken seriously. He added that the report will continue to be evolved as they wait for funding. The NTA will also be engaging with the local authority in the interim about any new housing developments “that are going to pop up” and they will be catered for within the plan.

Colm Kelly, also of the NTA, spoke of the feedback from the public consultations, saying that the main concern was that buses would not go through housing estates. People worried about interaction between buses and children playing in the estates and that their estates would become “rat runs” for cars, even if bus gates were provided.

Mr Kelly reported that some people commented on the lack of connection to outside attractions such as Lough Ennell, Belvedere Gardens and a few others. A few felt there was no need for a bus service as all locations were within walking distance of the town centre. They also got feedback on improving cycling and scooter facilities around the town.