Dublin - BusConnects

Anyone heard anything on the 2 corridors that were supposed to go to construction this year? Seems unlikely at this stage?

anyone has any inside news or any ideas on when the development for Bray CBC could potentially start? I know the JR window closed on Mar 25th, but can't find anywhere what happened with that.

I wouldn't bet on anytime soon

I believe that the JR window closes 8 weeks after the notification is published, not the actual decision date.

Apparently for Bray this date was 27th of February?

From a recent conversation:

"The ABP order was issued on 28th January as the post on boards.ie says but the deadline for judicial reviews is eight weeks from when the notices are published. The notices were published on 27th February so the deadline is 24th April."

there is isn't there - a judge has to decide to let it proceed before it goes to a full hearing?

Correct, but the threshold is very low.

It was removed as part of the initial works that started before DCC were brought to court over the trial. As a result, it was "reinstated" through the use of plastic bollards and I believe some temporary kerbing.

My posts on 9th March and 8th April have answered that.

Liffey Valley and Ballymun/Finglas are first and are currently being tendered.

Swords is actually the subject of a JR as far as I know.

Tallaght/Clondalkin is probably pretty high on the list as it is a huge improvement for buses and cycling along the whole length of the corridor.

This was Eamon Ryan in the Dail back in October -

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-10-17/65/

An Bord Pleanála has approved eight CBC schemes so far, including the Ballymun/Finglas, Blanchardstown and Swords CBC schemes serving the Fingal area. The Blanchardstown and Swords schemes are both the subject of ongoing Judicial Reviews. However, the Ballymun/Finglas scheme is currently part of the first tender competition for construction of CBC’s, along with the Liffey Valley scheme. I expect to see construction commence on the first of the CBC’s next year.

I didn't realise Swords was in JR, and I think that makes five CBCs already in JR? Blanch, Blackrock, Clongriffin, Rathfarnham, and Swords. And I believe Bray now has a JR filed against it, although it appears it hasn't been granted leave yet.

I find this just unfortunate as this now means that two adjacent corridors in north Dublin and three adjacent corridors in south Dublin are currently in JR. And while we are still waiting for the Kimmage CBC, it could additionally mean four adjacent corridors and over half of the scheme could be in JR by the end of the year.

As bad as having more than half of the scheme in JR may be, I think having four adjacent CBCs in JR is the real problem, I think it could potentially delay the scheme by years. If TII/NTA find themselves in a position where two of the last four corridors to begin consturction are adjacent, they may have no choice but to build them sequentially rather than consecutively.

I see the Shankill objectors are saying the E1 should use the motorway which is getting bus-lanes anyway under a different NTA plan. That's not a terrible idea in fairness - with the rerouted L14 and 45a there would still be regular connections from Shankill to Bray and the N11 and they have the Dart every 10 mins as well. The benefit of the BC corridor through Shankill seems marginal enough given they're not doing anything in the village itself - the E1 skips out places like Cabinteely and Stillorgan in favour of staying on the N11, why not skip Shankill as well. I'm sure there's another bunch of Shankillites who would object to losing their direct bus to town though.

it does very little for cyclists either - the original plan had an "alternative" route via backstreets that no cyclist would have used. The updated version just removed this. There's already cycle lanes on the approaches to Shankill village, they could be much improved but I don't think it would require much land-take.

There’s a big difference between the situation at Stillorgan & Cabinteely/Cornelscourt and that at Shankill.

In the case of the two former locations there are still relatively short walks to the alternative bus stops on the Stillorgan Road and Bray Road respectively - not an option with a motorway.

In this case the alternative stop for the E1 would be at Loughlinstown Hospital (a long way away) and you’d be replacing a high frequency Spine route with a 30 min local bus.

In terms of time saved - you do have to look at the entirety of the corridor and not just one single location. They all add up and can be the difference cumulatively between getting another trip out of the bus and driver.

It’s not just the connection to the city, those buses carry people to/from points all along the route - I don’t see that being a runner at all with the people who actually use the bus to/from Shankill, whom I suspect are not the people objecting (I see that the main funder of the JR claim is a partner in a trading firm who just happens to own a large mansion in Shankill and might lose some land).