Cars to be banned from key Dublin City Centre streets; priority to walking, buses etc

I like that consideration is given to handing deliveries and LGVs in a smarter way. Also the idea of making bus gates only for buses and not for taxis is a good one.

I like this idea too:

Options that could be considered include the removal of the Connolly Luas Stop,
potentially transforming the space into a Commuter Bus terminus. It may also be possible to provide
a new commercial space overhead, linking directly into Connolly Station and potentially linking via a
walkway into Busaras. This would have the added advantage of allowing Connolly passengers to
move directly into Busaras at grade, without having to cross Amiens Street at street level.

Also a good idea:

It is proposed that a Coach Parking Facility will be developed close to the City Centre, providing
secure bus parking and driver facilities off-street, within easy access of the main city
attractions/employment areas. A planning application is currently being prepared for such a facility
at a site in the Dublin Docklands area.
This facility will provide safe, secure parking for both commuter and tourist coaches within a short
distance of the city centre. It will also provide rest and convenience facilities for bus drivers. It is
anticipated that this facility will work in conjunction with short term set down Coach Stops within
the city centre, where passengers and tourists can be dropped off/picked up in close proximity to
their destination.

Overall, some great ideas here. Needs investment in areas outside the city centre as well to be honest to be truly effective, and needs to get past the vested interests, but I'm hopeful.

City Swift livery on the way back on College Green :pac:

Expecting the following on lunchtime/drivetime talk shows:

Owner of BT Car Park
Owner of Carrolls
Union official representing de Taxis who will demand transit via College Green.

Looks good in general

Look forward to hearing taxi drivers views! :rolleyes:

http://dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RoadsandTraffic/Traffic/Documents/CoreCityCentre.jpg

Can anyone clarify the alternative private car arrangements that will exist for the changes at Bachelor's Walk, and George's Quay? Are they going to reverse the one-way system on Liffey Street? West bound traffic from the Docklands area is going to have a long detour also, surely - can the SCR cope with all that extra traffic?

Plans for Suffolk street to be pedestrianised.

So could the existing bus reroutings become permanent

From rte report. http://m.rte.ie/news/2015/0610/707151-dublin-city-centre-transport-study/

Some of the restrictions are necessary because of Luas works, but will become permanent afterwards.

pclive wrote: »

The alternative is to use public transport

Thanks, thats not actually the question I asked though.

The map must be wrong then - where does eastbound traffic go when it reaches Liffey Street otherwise? Note that on George's Quay it mentions that the restrictions extend back to the Talbot bridge (and therefore not creating a dead end).

i wonder how practical it would be for the council to do away with on-street parking. if this weren't an option, then maybe they could moved away from allowing parking on both sides of the street to a situation where parking is only permitted on one side but with perpendicular parking so that capacity doesn't suffer as much.

Lucan123 wrote: »

Plans look good, but as usual the devil is in the detail which I'm guessing was not in scope when putting the report together.

It looks like the bus users coming from West Dublin will face increased journey times

- No Left turn from Westmoreland St to the Quays, but no alternative given (that I could see). This is because of the lemming pedestrians who walk in front of traffic turning when they see the traffic on Burgh Quay stopped. Personally I always though changing the sequence would solve the problem so it be Burgh - Pedestrian - Westmoreland

- No Right turn from Bachelors Walk onto O'Connell Bridge (using Rosie Hacket instead), the reasoning is because the buses face delays crossing 2 lanes of traffic, but wouldn’t the proposed Bachelors Walk bus gate solve this? (assuming the bus gate would be enforced unlike the 2009 College Green bus gate which was basically ignored up to 6 months ago). This also removes busses from Lucan, Leixlip, Celbridge & Maynooth from the proposed D'Ollier St hub

Let’s hope thy think things through properly and not just hope for the best because it sounds nice

pclive wrote: »

Outbound buses will head north on O'Connell Bridge - Eden Quay - Rosie Hacket Bridge - Burgh Quay - Aston Quay

pclive wrote: »

Buses will still be able to access D'Olier Street by crossing the Rosie Hackett and then by going west bound on Burgh Quay

While I'd broadly approve of the plans, the proposed removal of the left turn from Westmoreland Street onto Aston Quay is a tad worrying.

All of the 25/a/b/x, 26, 39/a, 66/a/b/x, 67/x, 70 and 145 come from Pearse Street, through the bus gate past the garda station, onto College Street and into Westmoreland Street.

Are all those buses going to have to route via Tara Street instead to access Burgh Quay, with all of the general traffic that uses that route instead of using the bus gate to College Street?

How will the 83 get from Westmoreland Street to the Quays and Church Street?

The notion suggested above that they go around in a loop is just nonsensical and totally impractical.

Inbound, the right turn removal at O'Connell Bridge is not such a big issue for these routes. They can use the with-flow bus lane on Eden Quay and use the Rosie Hackett Bridge and operate via Hawkins Street before using their current route via College Street, Grafton Street and Nassau Street (or College Green for the 83).

No mention either of whether the right turn from O'Connell Bridge onto Eden Quay is to be removed/retained? This is used by the 14, 15, 27 and Swords Express and as such is a busy turn (the maps for LUAS BXD suggested that it would be removed (see page 3 of this link - https://1f19be030965d7aa9cd5-0ea8ebfb2bc7a6161d6ab1bbbbe2306e.ssl.cf3.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LCC-Route-Pack-1.pdf)

I'm disappointed that more thought has not been given in the study as to providing a second bus station for inter-regional services. A second bus station is badly needed, as Bus Aras is pretty much at capacity as it is, and it is nonsensical for the current situation to prevail with operators such as Aircoach, Citylink, Dublin Coach etc. having to stand on-street for lengthy periods of time while inter-regional coach services load/unload.

Removing Connolly LUAS stop is not the answer - it is very useful in enabling additional capacity on the LUAS in the city centre, and would be nowhere near big enough to facilitate a commuter bus station. Removing it would mean extra trams would be needed due to the extra running time to/from the Point.

AngryLips wrote: »

i wonder how practical it would be for the council to do away with on-street parking. if this weren't an option, then maybe they could moved away from allowing parking on both sides of the street to a situation where parking is only permitted on one side but with perpendicular parking so that capacity doesn't suffer as much.

Their track record on any suggestions about removing on-street parking has not been good - it's a big revenue stream for the council.

Personally I think the thread title should be changed to mention the banning of cars and taxis from certain areas, and the emphasis on PT and pedestrians.

Not criticising the OP, but it might get a lot more attention!

thomasj wrote: »

In fairness, its been while since I've been on a 39/a that has taken that route. They usually go down Tara street left onto burgh quay And onwards.

Yup, most drivers have decided that Tara St-Burgh Quay route is much faster, less traffic lights and more green time, and no need to cross all the way from the east to west side of Westmoreland St.