o connell street in dublin

Uthur

yesterday i heard a rumour that the council is planning to dig up o connell street yet again for another major overhaul. has anyone heard anything about this or was it just pub talk?

Saganist

Something to do with the metro I think...

Ruu_Old

town you mean?

mysons

Sure you have to give the Council lads something to do for the winter so why not waste money ripping up O Connell street just to make it look like it was/is.

Chuchoter

They're going to tear apart the whole of town for this stupid metro thing: College green, Stephens Green and O'Connell Street. It will be chaos.

Einhard

crayolastereo wrote: »

They're going to tear apart the whole of town for this stupid metro thing: College green, Stephens Green and O'Connell Street. It will be chaos.

Dublin needs a metro. Streets need to be dug up for a metro. It's unfortunate, but it's also necessary.

Uthur

Einhard wrote: »

Dublin needs a metro. Streets need to be dug up for a metro. It's unfortunate, but it's also necessary.

but why is it necessary? we have buses, the luas, the dart service, a bazillion taxis, free bicycles etc. how much public transport does
one city need anyway?

Einhard

Uthur wrote: »

but why is it necessary? we have buses, the luas, the dart service, a bazillion taxis, free bicycles etc. how much public transport does
one city need anyway?

Dublin has an abysmal public transport system. The Luas is but two lines that aren't even connected, and doesn't serve the entire northside of the city. In a city of over a million people, the economic hub of an entire country, a fully functioning, fully integrated public transport system is required, and I'd consider a metro system as being an essential part of that.

All the things you mentioned above, the buses and light rail and taxis are present in Bordeaux for example, a city with quarter the population of Dublin, and none of the national economic significance.

dubtom

Einhard wrote: »

Dublin needs a metro. Streets need to be dug up for a metro. It's unfortunate, but it's also necessary.

Well seeing as the Metro has been talked about for at least 5 years at least, and O'Connell st has been dug up twice in that time for so called revamps, do you think a person/company or Council who were using their own money would spend so much on such fruitless work, knowing well it will dug up again in a matter of years. Millions wasted yet again.

Einhard

dubtom wrote: »

Well seeing as the Metro has been talked about for at least 5 years at least, and O'Connell st has been dug up twice in that time for so called revamps, do you think a person/company or Council who were using their own money would spend so much on such fruitless work, knowing well it will dug up again in a matter of years. Millions wasted yet again.

I think that's a tad unfair to be honest. Firstly, the work alluded to could hadly be described as "fruitless". O'Connell St has been transformed, and the Luas completed. I'm not sure I'd go along with the notion that that's money down the drain.

Secondly, the metro was only approved by the government in the past 12 months, and construction will likely only begin in earnest in 2012, if that early at all. Work on revamping the thoroughfare started in 2002 and finished four years later. Would you have had them delay the much needed restoration for over a decade in order that they align the work with that for a metro system, which hadn't yet been given approval?

monument

crayolastereo wrote: »

They're going to tear apart the whole of town for this stupid metro thing: College green, Stephens Green and O'Connell Street. It will be chaos.

The "whole" of town is not going to be torn apart.

Metro North will have no affect on College Green whatsoever. Only a small part of Stephens Green will be closed and an even smaller part of O'Connell Street.

It will be messy, but it will be manageable.

dubtom wrote: »

Well seeing as the Metro has been talked about for at least 5 years at least, and O'Connell st has been dug up twice in that time for so called revamps, do you think a person/company or Council who were using their own money would spend so much on such fruitless work, knowing well it will dug up again in a matter of years. Millions wasted yet again.

Oh, please, only a small part of O'Connell Street will be dug up for Metro North, a far larger part of the street is planned to be dug up for Luas BXD.

Uthur wrote: »

but why is it necessary? we have buses, the luas, the dart service, a bazillion taxis, free bicycles etc. how much public transport does
one city need anyway?

Dublin's public transport is very poor compared to other cities in Europe.

The bus system has major problems and still will have after Network Direct, Luas and Dart only serve small parts of the city, taxis aren't really public transport, and Dublin Bikes also only serve a small area.

derra_121

Who really ever drives down O'Connell street on a daily basis apart from bus drivers and taxi men!.... Build a bridge...Not Literally ;);)

GLaDOS

Uthur wrote: »

but why is it necessary? we have buses, the luas, the dart service, a bazillion taxis, free bicycles etc. how much public transport does
one city need anyway?

For half the city, which is why the Metro is being built, to cover the other half

artanevilla

ScienceNerd wrote: »

For half the city, which is why the Metro is being built, to cover the other half

The DART only covers the East as well.

dubtom

Einhard wrote: »

I think that's a tad unfair to be honest. Firstly, the work alluded to could hadly be described as "fruitless". O'Connell St has been transformed, and the Luas completed. I'm not sure I'd go along with the notion that that's money down the drain.

Secondly, the metro was only approved by the government in the past 12 months, and construction will likely only begin in earnest in 2012, if that early at all. Work on revamping the thoroughfare started in 2002 and finished four years later. Would you have had them delay the much needed restoration for over a decade in order that they align the work with that for a metro system, which hadn't yet been given approval?

Well yes I would actually. Even though approval was given in the last 12 months,it's been talked about for years. You may remember that O'Connell st was revamped twice in the last decade, the second a mere year or so after they completed it first time. I don't have a problem with the city being revamped, a little forward thinking is not too much to ask.

monument saidOh, please, only a small part of O'Connell Street will be dug up for Metro North, a far larger part of the street is planned to be dug up for Luas BXD.
I'm not sure what you point is?

Faith+1

If they did up O'Connell Street where will all the junkies go?? Poor souls will be homeless for 1-2 years :(:(

monument

dubtom wrote: »

monument saidOh, please, only a small part of O'Connell Street will be dug up for Metro North, a far larger part of the street is planned to be dug up for Luas BXD.
I'm not sure what you point is?

Metro North will only affect a small part of the street, everything will be still accessible.