New Laois car parking study heralds change Portlaoise parking

Portlaoise has more car parking than comparable towns but is also heavily reliant on private car parks according to a new report which recommended that parking spaces be cut by 20% to meet climate change targets.

A new report commissioned by Laois County Council has also found that more than half of car journeys made in Portlaoise are made by townspeople in the urban area. 

The key findings and recommendations in the Portlaoise Parking Review, carried out by Roadplan Consulting, were outlined to county councillors by Simon Walton, Director of Services, responsible for the town. 

He told the Portlaoise Municipal District representatives that the town has more car parking spaces available than towns of a similar size. He said there are 3,822 spaces available to the public to park.

Of these, he said 3,577 are standard spaces and 130 disabled spaces with just six age-friendly parks and 78 spaces designated for parent and child parking. A total of 27 spaces are set aside for electric vehicles while just four have other use.

He pointed out that the town heavily relies on private providers such as hotels and shopping centres for public parking. They provide 75% or 2,869 parking spaces in the county town. This contrasts with Kilkenny where 56% of parking is private while in Mullingar 54% is private.

The reliance on private car parks is illustrated acutely at Laois Shopping Centre where there 1,222 spaces. However, it was significantly underused with just a 45% occupancy rate in 2023.

Mr Walton said a large percentage of parking in the town is also off-street but there is more free parking availability than other towns. The report found that just 6% of parking in Portlaoise is located on street.

He also outlined the key recommendations for Portlaoise which the council would be focusing upon: 

• Roll out new cash, cashless and contactless parking payment units;
• Designate appropriate, existing, car-parking spaces for disabled, Autism, parent & child, age-friendly, EV charging etc;
• Enhance parking information on Council’s website and via social media;
• Review parking zones to increase free parking in all-day parking areas and shorter-stay pay parking in more central locations;
• Introduce way-finding strategy for parking, including automated parking space display;
• Re-allocate existing car-parking spaces, in a phased manner, to cycle parking, bus parking and bus set-down/collection; 

Mr Walton also told councillors the recommendation proposing that parking be cut by 20% would not be adopted. However, he cautioned that the Climate Action Plan aims to cut traffic emissions by 50% by 2030. He said emissions grew nationally in the first two years of the plan.

“That is something society is going to have to grapple with,” he said.

He said the study also measured traffic flows and found that over 51% of daily car trips, or nearly 3,000 journeys, originate in the core urban area or the adjoining immediate area of the town.

He pointed out to the addition of extra parking provided at the Railway Street car park as being at least 90% occupied every day. He acknowledged that some shopping centres close entire car park floors when demand is low.  He also said there will be three options for new parking payment - cash, card, or online via the existing app.

Cllr Thomasina Connell, Fine Gael, was disappointed with the report because she argued that people are looking for additional spaces in the older part of town rather than making more free spaces in the shopping centres.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, Fine Gael, said she was surprised that 75% of car parking is private. She called for more car parking in the town and was also concerned by the low number of disability spaces. She also highlighted an ongoing problem at Jessop St.

She hoped that the new town bus service would alleviate traffic congestion problems in the town.

Cllr John Joe Fennelly, Fianna Fáil, called for more age-friendly parking as he said there is unprecedented demand. He also said disabled parking bays should be bigger given the larger type of vehicles used.

Describing the study as a blueprint, Cllr Willie Aird, Fine Gael, highlighted the growth of traffic in the town with journey times growing as a result. He hoped that the new bus service would help and believes more schoolchildren are going to school by bicycle.

He insisted that traffic and parking in the town must be considered by the council’s planners when deciding on planning applications.

Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald, Fianna Fáil, said traffic and parking must be a part of plans for the town given that it is infrastructure.

Cllr Marie Tuohy, Labour Party, welcomed the commitment to deliver more Autism-friendly car parking while Cllr Barry Walsh, Fine Gael, called on the council to erect digital signs advising people of parking availability.

The report was discussed at the March meeting of the Municipal District.