How to fix current mess at College Green

KC8

I’ve watched the disaster that is College Green from the bus, from the Luas and as a pedestrian for a number of weeks now. All from stationary positions for prolonged periods of time. It’s such a shame that hundreds of thousands of people are unnecessarily inconvenienced due to bad original planning and a lack of any apparent will to rectify the situation. It’s also a shame that a real (positive) step change in public transport services in Dublin has turned into a negative experience for so many.

To much fanfare, 17 bus routes were rerouted recently away from College Green. What wasn’t said was that the diversions were made without any additional bus priority measures along the new routes (Tara Street especially). Also ignored was the fact that the resultant reduction in buses using College Green would be offset by increased services on a number of other routes (e.g. 15, 46A, 140, Lucan/Maynooth services etc.).

I set out below, some additional changes that I feel are necessary to improve the lives of public transport users and of the vast majority of anyone in the city.

The most simple of changes - Light sequence outside Trinity Gate.
For some reason, when a bus or Luas gets a green light to travel from Grafton Street towards Westmoreland Street, the route in the opposite direction remains red. This appears unnecessary.

The next simplest change – for the greater good
Ban taxis from College Green between 0700 and 2100. Taxis can still go as far down Dame Street as Bank of Ireland but they must then operate a “U-Turn”; while on the other side, taxis can still drive around the Westin.

The next urgently needed step – Tara Street
Inset a bus lane (with physical dividers) along Tara Street right up to the Quays. The second most left lane can be used by general traffic to turn left. If the Council had some backbone, I would ban general traffic turning left altogether.

The last change
I haven’t proposed to do anything with Dame Street buses as this will be dealt with as part of the Plazadeliberations, but I think we could see a dramatic reduction in buses travelling through College Green with minimal impact on journey time or inconvenience for bus users if the following changes were made:
1. Make Lombard Street from the junction of Townsend Street as far up as Merrion Square public transport only. This includes Clare Street in both directions. This might sound like a big change but cars can still make journeys in that general direction by using Sandwith Street / Holles Street.
2. Make Nassau Street two way between Clare Street and Kildare Street.
3. Divert all buses that currently use Grafton Street southbound along the route described above and move their current Nassau Street bus stops to the bottom of Kildare Street. This would mean as quick a journey (due to bus priority) and bus stops only moving slightly. I don’t propose diverting Routes 4, 7, 26, 66s, 67s as their bus stops would be moving quite a distance.

Surely worth trying given the current mess.

Stephen15

I've said it before but I will say it again, I really don't see the need for every bus serving the city centre to have to use O'Connell Bridge, The Quays, Westmoreland/D'olier Street or indeed College Green. There are plenty of other streets in the city that currently don't get a huge amount of bus traffic.

A car would likely not go into these areas due to the restrictions and traffic in these areas so why should a bus. If other streets were given better bus priority measures then there might be as many issues. The fact of the matter is you can put as much bus priority measures as you like on College Green and there will still be issues.

Cookie_Monster

Could simply CPO and bulldoze the BOI to create some more road space, or Trinity. Could install another carpark in the spare space. I mean it's all about keeping cars moving, right?
:pac:

Dravokivich

They've already said buses are being reduced through there.

boombang

KC8 wrote: »

The most simple of changes - Light sequence outside Trinity Gate.
For some reason, when a bus or Luas gets a green light to travel from Grafton Street towards Westmoreland Street, the route in the opposite direction remains red. This appears unnecessary.

I've noticed this too and was going to contact the NTA etc, but I think this is actually not likely to be a big efficiency. The southbound lane that comes from Pearse St breaks into two and the westbound traffic is held at a red. This means there's only a small stub of traffic that's likely to benefit from the rationalisation you suggest. I imagine the current arrangement must be due to concerns that drivers mistake a green filter for left (southbound) as a green for both left and right lanes and their could be a collision with a Luas. That's the only reason I can see.

I think removing the taxis is the sensible one. It won't be popular, but there's almost no reason to permit them access given how scarce the space is and that they are effectively private transport.

The whole thing is so silly. I can't believe that simulation modelling of traffic flow didn't show that this was going to be a total mess in advance. I'd like to know if an analysis would say that on average journey times for everybody have gone down or up, even if you count for the convenience of being able to cross town on a luas.

Chris_5339762

You'll notice though no two Luases anywhere on the line will pass each other on a corner. One will always stop. Why this is I don't know as it isn't an issue anywhere else I've been.

Cookie_Monster

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

You'll notice though no two Luases anywhere on the line will pass each other on a corner. One will always stop. Why this is I don't know as it isn't an issue anywhere else I've been.

Is this a new policy or something? I've been on several where they pass on the Harcourt corner, one of the severest on the entire line.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Could simply CPO and bulldoze the BOI to create some more road space, or Trinity. Could install another carpark in the spare space. I mean it's all about keeping cars moving, right?
:pac:

Actually we should have sent the luas through trinity. Open it up. It’s like a garrisoned barracks now.

boombang

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Actually we should have sent the luas through trinity. Open it up. It’s like a garrisoned barracks now.

And lovely for it.

Chris_5339762

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Is this a new policy or something? I've been on several where they pass on the Harcourt corner, one of the severest on the entire line.

Seems to happen all the time on the Red Line, especially at that both those sharp bends between Heuston and James's.