screenshot from a video uploaded to facebook by Ian O Toole
Council has reiterated its view
that The Quay doesn’t present
any problem for emergency
services.
In a statement, a spokesperson
for Waterford City &
County Council said (1) that
the quays were designed with
emergency vehicle access in
mind; (2) there is ample road
width available for two vehicles
to pass on both sides of
The Quay provided no other
vehicles are parked illegally;
and (3) Waterford City
& County Council has not
received any complaints from
the Emergency Services based
at UHW regarding access.
However, a video posted
on the Waterford Ambulance
Service Facebook page (and
available to view on The
Munster Express Facebook
page) appears to show two
ambulances facing difficulty
in travelling along The Quay
through busy traffic near the
Gladstone Street roundabout.
As reported in last week’s
edition, Cllr Joe Kelly (Ind)
highlighted two recent incidents
involving the emergency
services on The Quay at the
May Metropolitan meeting
of Waterford City & County
Council.
“An ambulance coming
from the Rice Bridge direction
had to travel the entire length
of The Quay on the opposite
side of the road past The Clock
Tower before it could get onto
the right side of the road due
to the volume of the traffic,”
he said.
“Two weeks beforehand, a
fire engine had to come down
The Quay with its wheels up
on the median,” he added.
Responding to Cllr Kelly’s
concerns, Senior Engineer
Ray Mannix said he had been
speaking with a member of the
ambulance service who “categorically
told me that there
was no issue with The Quay.”
He said the issue of emergency
vehicles was specifically
taken into consideration
when working on the new
layout on The Quay.
