Plans drawn up to redevelop Tralee's historic Ashe Street

Plans have been drawn up for a major redevelopment of Tralee's historic Ashe Street.

Plans have been drawn up for a major redevelopment of Tralee's historic Ashe Street.

The plans, which will have to be approved by residents and business people, will be circulated this week before going on public display with amendments.

The proposals include the widening of footpaths on Ashe Street, the laying of granite paving and the provision of several pedestrian crossings, as well as landscaping and street lighting mounted on historic buildings.

It follows the €2 million upgrading of Tralee town square, which reopened last September.

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The redevelopment is an attempt to regenerate the town centre amid growing concern about a loss of business.

Tralee town engineer Gerry Riordan told Tralee Town Council that the street contained several buildings of national importance, and many were protected structures.

They included the classical courthouse, the dominant building on Ashe Street built from local limestone in the 1830s.

Other structures of architectural merit include legal offices, the Protestant Hall, shopfronts, bars, private residences and a large Victorian monument commemorating the Royal Munster Fusiliers for their part in various foreign wars at the height of the British empire.

"The redevelopment will improve the environmental realm of both this historical area and architectural conservation area of the centre of Tralee," Mr Riordan said.

It would ensure that the street would be visually more aesthetic and more pedestrian-friendly and would be a "more vibrant" area, he added.

One of the first concerns would be traffic management, and a one-way system was being put in place.

Nearby Courthouse Lane was also to be improved in a second phase of the proposed redevelopment.

Concern was expressed at the meeting about the need to consult businesses in the area.

This followed criticism by traders in the town square who suffered substantial losses during improvements there a year ago.