Cities around the world that are reducing car access

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120572951#Comment_120572951

Yes Capel St has permanent repaving as a separate project. The permanent pedestrianised college green has to wait for bus connects to finish AFAIK and thats on ice because of the staffing crisis. Although myself and many other posters feel it could be partially resolved by implementing bus priority at a few key locations.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573161#Comment_120573161

Excellent, thats good news!

Capel Street doesn't seem to be reaching its potential currently with footfall etc. A redesign could work wonders.

I'd also like to see them put dedicated space for bikes and scooters, since they tend to put people off walking on the road space as they are everywhere at the moment.

Once the Smithfield Market opens as a fully functioning market, open to the public, that area could become a real focal point for the city and there are a good amount of hotels there to keep tourism numbers up, with a couple more due to open over the summer.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573441#Comment_120573441

Is the plan for BusConnects to completley avoid College Green then, so it can be fully pedestrianised?

That would be great.

What is the official date for BusConnects to complete? I know it is delayed due to the staffing issues, but is it officially suposed to complete by Q4 2024 does anyone know?

LXFlyer

They cannot implement the full College Green pedestrianisation until BusConnects is implemented as the reorganised spines involve re-routing buses through the city centre to avoid right turns at O’Connell Bridge.

There really is no point in trying to guess when that will be, as the bus companies are still way short of the necessary staff.

Any target dates aren’t worth the paper they are written on right now, so there’s no point in even asking. The changes will happen when the bus companies are in a position to make them happen, that’s the latest from the NTA. They aren’t giving out data any more as it was pointless.

They have to implement the orbital services before they can do any more spines, and they require a lot of additional drivers.

Just to point out also that there will still be three spines running alongside the LUAS from Grafton Street to Westmoreland Street and from College Street to Grafton Street.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573692#Comment_120573692

I believe that footfall is up overall, so that's good.

On the roadspace issue, I'll probably be disappointing you. Capel St is meant to be one of the route on the Dublin Cycle Plan (can't remember if it's primary or secondary route), so bikes and stuff will still be going through there. It's not wide enough to separate them out completely, so it's going to be mixed the entire way. The design looks like it's designed to slow cyclists down, with chicanes, obstacles, etc. Given the requirements and the restrictions, it's the best that we can hope for, in my opinion.

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573979#Comment_120573979

I believe it's a primary route

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573979#Comment_120573979

Thanks.

I dont have an issue with cycles using the space, but hopefully they have a dedicated space with the majority given over to pedestrians.

At the moment, the bulky Deliveroo and Just Eat riders fly down there on electric bikes at a rate of knots and roam anywhere across the road space.

This makes the road space unappealing to pedestrians.

Dedicated cycle lanes would be perfect, along with the chicanes to slow them down.

Begs the obvious question though....will they use the cycle lanes or just cycle in the pedestrian space anyway.

AlmightyCushion

Each week over half a million pedestrians and 2 million passengers on public transport go through the College Green bus gate. This compares with just 27,000 private vehicles.

I knew pedestrians and public transport users vastly outnumbered drivers in the city centre but that is an insane difference. For every car that goes through it, 80 people on buses/luas and 20 pedestrians go through it.

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120573703#Comment_120573703

Yes they'll be fully on the quays. Original date is end of 2024 and they've not changed that but obviously that's not achievable now. We won't know a new completion date until the current staffing issues are sorted.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120575246#Comment_120575246

Thanks.

The rollout has certainly turned into a disaster.

Far too many incentives for people not to work in Dublin especially, due primarily to the cost of accommodation.

p_haugh

Forgot to post this last week - DLRCOCO are looking to make the COVID measures introduced in Blackrock permanent. As part of this, one interesting change is that the bus terminus will be moved from the sea front beside the Train Station, to the start of Rock hill.

https://dlrcoco.citizenspace.com/transportation/living-streets-blackrock-village/

This should open up the seafront for other developments, potentially something like the proposal put forward by businesses in the area last year.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/art-and-design/very-feasible-seafront-scheme-would-see-plaza-built-over-dart-line-in-dublin-suburb-1.4696393

LXFlyer

The bus terminus is actually planned for Rock Hill leading to the Main Street and not Temple Hill according to the link below.

Given the planned frequencies of the S4 (10 mins) and L26 (30 mins), that’s going to need space for a minimum of four buses at a time to layover between journeys.

That’s a fair few buses parked up in that location and a bit of a disconnect from the railway station.

https://dlrcoco.citizenspace.com/transportation/living-streets-blackrock-village/supporting_documents/Bus_Routing_Options.pdf

MJohnston

Yeah the disconnect from the DART station is odd given that these two bus routes are surely designed to interface with the DART specifically. Not a problem that's particularly easily solved from a pedestrian perspective either. Granted it's only a 3 minute walk.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120578940#Comment_120578940

Sorry yes, I meant Rock hill 🤦‍♂️

Yeah it will be interesting how it will cope with the amount of buses laying over. There's mention of extra layover space on the Section of Carysfort Avenue between the main street and the Rock Road as well, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough.

loyatemu

according to that document the NTA are happy with the proposal and they must have an idea how many buses are likely to be parked up at any time.

It's not great in terms of connectivity to the Dart - maybe they could take the southern bit of that big garden for a walkway, when they're CPOing the eastern side to widen the cycle path.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579303#Comment_120579303

I wouldn’t quite share your faith in the NTA’s operational knowledge, being honest, but we shall see. ;-)

I think that you’ll end up with people complaining on several fronts, including about buses being parked on the street, and about the poor connection with the station.

You’re right though, a walkway to/from the station would be a big plus, and would make a difference.

p_haugh

Either way, It's an awkward location for a bus terminus overall. Having car park and bus terminus taking up prime sea front real estate isn't the greatest imo. At least with the car park, you can somewhat hide that away with a landscaped slab above, like what's seen in the proposals from last year. With buses, that's not as easy.

Shame it's losing direct access to the station though, but it was never properly integrated to begin with. Timetables were never aligned, so you'd get off the train just to see the bus pull away.

A walkway would definitely help, but it is quite steep around there so it wouldn't necessarily be that accessable for those with disabilities. Quite a long ramp wound need to be installed to account for the elevation change. Unless of course something like a lift is installed, but I'd highly doubt they'd be that adventurous.

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579303#Comment_120579303

If I remember right, that big private residence has been a problem for widening the cycle path in the past. It was up for sale back in 2017 though:

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/blackrock-mansion-for-sale-with-51m-development-plan-1.3135543

loyatemu

TBH I don't know what the plans are for that path - you would think at some point they'll have to take a bit of the garden but I don't know the logistics of that, whether it's protected etc.

Thelonious Monk

https://twitter.com/irishexaminer/status/1656466924325474304

Jesus Christ, every single comment under this article is the conspiracy theorist loon he's talking about. Has Irish Twitter always been this mental?

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120582120#Comment_120582120

Only since 2006 or so.

magicbastarder

your first mistake on twitter is reading people who comment underneath tweets from newspapers (which are usually just links to their articles). they know that the tweeter will not engage with them, so there's no debate. it's almost a safe space for them.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120579156#Comment_120579156

If they did something with Blackrock seafront as a result then moving the bus terminus 3 mins up the road would be a tiny price to pay.

If the bus terminating at the DART station is blocking the seafront development in any way, it should absolutley be moved.

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120582120#Comment_120582120

Twitter is basically only absolute loons since Musk took over.

MJohnston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120582211#Comment_120582211

Sure, I agree with this, I just think it could be done in a way that doesn't add to commuters' worries.

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120582120#Comment_120582120

I believe people have gotten dumber globally, maybe something to do with social media and perceived equality of opinion and fact.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583050#Comment_120583050

I don't think people have gotten dumber (on the whole). It is more that social media gives people (both smart and dumb) a platform from which they can shout their thoughts and beliefs which is why we now notice what some of the dumb people come out with.

Thelonious Monk

https://twitter.com/businessposthq/status/1656381092511752192

Don't know why I'm torturing myself but look at the responses here. How did people ever manage before every driveway had 6 cars rammed into it? All of 30 years ago?

Also this belief that it's the Green Party pulling the strings for every single thing they disagree with is nuts.

Thelonious Monk

https://twitter.com/yascaoimhin/status/1656620263985823747

omfg

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583235#Comment_120583235

It's a shame they can't build a few hundred apartments over the supermarket and just have an underground parking garage.

Such a great location.

It's right on D spine bus route. In town in 15/20 minutes.