Plans to pedestrianise Limerick city centre will be put on hold if the Government withdraws funding for a tunnel under the Shannon Estuary, a senior Limerick Corporation official has warned.
Mr Dick Tobin, acting director of services, said a £3.5 million plan to divert traffic routes, install street furniture, and build new surfaces would be developed at a slower pace if the proposed £75 million fourth river crossing was postponed due to Government cutbacks.
"In that case we are going to have to come up with a very incremental approach. We certainly will not be able to fund big dramatic schemes," he said.
"The big ambition is to pedestrianise O'Connell Street and William Street. We can only do that if the fourth river crossing goes ahead."
For the past fortnight, five shortlisted architectural plans to transform the city centre have been on public display at City Hall.
Members of the public were invited to submit comments on the proposals. The architect companies each received £3,000 to develop their proposals to this stage after they were selected from 22 entries.
"We wanted to pick designers that had a successful history in other places," Mr Tobin said.
"We wanted Irish and European influences, so we chose on that basis.
"The one thing that strikes everybody is that Limerick is a very hard city. The buildings are sharp and angular".
On Monday, the corporation will begin their assessment of the plans and the comments. Their selection will then be debated by the city council. The selected entry will win an architectural contract worth between £300,000 and £350,000.
The entries vary in approach and scope. The Brady Shipman & Martin entry proposes the building of a town square at Arthur's Quay Park, which would involve the demolition of Dunnes Stores, William Street, and the building of a cultural centre on that site.
Drogheda architects McGarry N∅ Eanaigh suggested the demolition of parts of Dunnes, Roches and Sarsfield House to create a vista from St John's Castle into O'Connell Street.
"There are some who have approached it as a very dramatic design statement, and then there are some who are saying, 'Let's not go for the dramatic. Let's work instead on what we have', " Mr Tobin added.
Ferguson McIlveen, of Belfast, put forward a design of extending footpaths, putting in lighted kiosks but leaving streets open to traffic.
Nicholas de Jong, a London-based company, proposes a major feature at the entrance of William Street and Bedford Row, and creating a pedestrianised area along a section of O'Connell Street.
Limerick-based architects Murray ╙ Laoire have proposed defining public spaces using pillars, lighting and canopies.
"The life of Limerick city is formed by the overlapping of two movement patterns, the constant flow of the Shannon river and the passage of urban streets," they state.