I came across some road infrastructure plans for Dublin which never happened, THANKFULLY. I thought it would be interesting to post here and see what other projects people can think of.
A big beautiful wall
The Dublin Bay Motorway
https://www.irishbulletin.ie/dublin-bay-motorway
Then again we could be better off without a 70’s nuclear power plant
Pretty much why the original plans for DART were criticised in the papers. Mosherways me buckos!
Michael lowerys vision of a thurles Las Vegas
The tChina Hub in Athlone... Shenzhen's Midlands bazaar...
https://www.thejournal.ie/athlone-china-trading-hub-2-3166550-Jan2017/
Would’ve been some opportunities for cash payments though.
The Boeing 929 Jetfoil service started (so isn't 'never happened') but the seas were too rough for it.
The actual vessel was sold on and is still in service as far as I know, it had an accident in 2019.
One of the roughest/most dangerous pubs to ever exist in Dublin was on Commons Street and named The Jetfoil after it.
There was also a plan for a massive Theme park in North Country Dubin.
Theoretically speaking... if the Eastern bypass was to be built, would the toll barriers still exist. And if so, would the road then tunnel immediately under liffey?
Wasn't there mention of an Athlone International Airport or some nonsense like that?
We can probably file the GLUAS and CLUAS (or whatever the Cork one was to be called) under this thread before long.
Yeah I was gonna throw that in there but wasn't sure if I was mixing up with the Chinese Economic zone. I think they were doing the rounds at the same time 😂🤣
Seriously like, to think we would build a new international airport in Athlone. Lolser
That was Richard Quirke who was behind that, of Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium fame. Twas to be in Two Mile Borris, just off the M8.
Lowry was just the facilitator...
Of course, we had white water rafting in the Dublin City Centre. Has that been mentioned?
A huge waste of DCC funds.
The whole transport infrastructure minset in dublin is still based off plans that are decendents of mad notions of a huge network of urban motorways and parkways dreamed up by the Corporation in the 60s and 70s.
I knew I remembered something about this, The proposed City of the Sacred Heart. Even more demented when I read back on it.
Although this does seem like the type of grandiosity symptomatic of some illnesses like bipolar, albeit on a larger than usual scale.
Mentioning out west, there was the proposal for a major rail-sea interchange at Belmullet, the expectation being that trains would be much faster than boats and that all express traffic to Europe from North America would call there to transfer to train to Rosslare and again over Wales/England.
Then aircraft came along. Belmullet never got a railway line at all!
Combine that with one of the proposed rail tunnels/bridges between UK and Ireland and you may have another business case for the belmullet interchange!
Really interesting post from Idyll Race about the Mitsui Proposal for a metro in Dublin.
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/80467061/#Comment_80467061
They wanted to build a metro from Dundrum to Dublin airport using the Harcourt Line to the City Centre (now the Luas Red Line). Then underground from Harcourt Street to the airport. He includes a really good article by Shane Coleman detailing the decision making process at the time. Unfortunately a process that led to the proposal been rejected. A terrible missed opportunity IMO.
The rest of the thread is very good too.
I'm intrigued by the mention of something called the Dargan Project but unfortunately the link to the website appears to be broken. I'd love to find out more about what it involved.
Ah here now. Controversial addition.
Thank God that mindset is being dismantled. The city motorway plans from the 60s show just how far the world was willing to go to embrace the automobile.
Time to reclaim streets for bikes and pedestrians.
No need, Foynes already has the railway which they're reopening.
Vega City, proposed in 2003. The mother of all overbuilt white elephants.
https://www.thejournal.ie/theme-park-dublin-lusk-vega-city-2-3343905-Apr2017/
Did anyone say Bertie Bowl? Plan for an Olympic-sized stadium in Abbotstown, Blanchardstown. The State Laboratory was moved to Celbridge to make way for it. Then thankfully the Bowl was cancelled, so the move was a waste of money.
The background was that we jointly bid with Scotland to host UEFA Euro 2008 and at the time we had Croke and Landsdowne neither of which had been renovated yet, and Croke said they would never allow UEFA games to be played there. So Bertie wanted us to build another large stadium in Blanch to complement the other two.
We didn't even get shortlisted.
Yep.
God almighty that article on the new city in Roscommon is a horrendous read. Packed full of begrudgery ("What the hell is going on here?") and poor ideas about how cities grow and function. Building a new city will not stop population decline - people wanna leave, they will leave.
A bishop asked for comment. The area in which it is proposed referred to as a "diocese". The city to be called "Sacred Heart". Mad stuff, totally out of touch.
I've no idea why this bloke's idea was given national coverage. He was even interviewed by the New York Times FFS and consulted with Richard bleeding Branson.
What the west of Ireland needs is not a new city but improvements to existing cities - lots more housing, LOTS more infrastructure and don't protest against the building of infrastructure when it's proposed. There is no such thing as "too many houses" - more houses means prices are reasonable and supply is high. If developments are monotonous, more architects are needed.
So glad it's 2022 and not 2000. Awful time.
You weren't around in 2007-2008 were you? No such thing as too many houses my arse.
The Galway bypass ?? 😆
Clown country !
That does NOT belong in this thread, yet 🤣
Story there.
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