They're Digging Up Grafton Street

the groutch · 03-05-2013 10:25PM #1

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/council-to-start-digging-up-grafton-street-by-the-end-of-the-month-1.1382250

The €2.5 million repaving of Dublin’s Grafton Street, which will see the removal of the red brick surface and its replacement with pink and grey granite, will begin on May 27th.
Dublin City Council will start by digging up the section of Ireland’s leading shopping street nearest St Stephen’s Green and will close the area to delivery vehicles for three months.
The repaving work is to take a year and a half and is not scheduled for completion until November 2014. The work will, however, be suspended to facilitate the Christmas and new year shopping periods.
The first phase of works is to be carried out from Chatham Street to South King Street. This section of Grafton Street will be closed to traffic until August 2013. Delivery vehicles coming from the northern end of the street will have to exit Grafton Street using Chatham Street. Access to South King Street will be from St Stephen’s Green North.
Pedestrian and emergency access will be maintained to all shops and other businesses on Grafton Street during the works, the council said.
As a result of the works there will be 20 per cent less overall space on Grafton Street for delivery vehicles and the council is asking businesses to encourage their suppliers to park elsewhere or spend as little time as possible on Grafton Street.

so instead of spending the property tax money on actual local services, it's all being wasted on a few fancy stones?
the local elections can't come soon enough to get rid of the eejits who decided this.

strandroad · 03-05-2013 10:28PM

Finally. You could lose your teeth on these loose wobbly bricks!

Clandestine · 03-05-2013 10:28PM

Pink and grey? Could they have picked a worse mix of colours?

donvito99 · 03-05-2013 10:28PM

About bloody time, the white tiles to the sides are deathtraps

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 03-05-2013 10:28PM

Won't somebody please think of the buskers!

Mint Sauce · 03-05-2013 10:29PM

Where does it say the property tax is paying for it?

03-05-2013 10:30PM

Will the work be carried out by the council or sub-contracted out? Hope the work is subbed out, a job for a few unemployed construction workers. Spread the wealth an all that.

Wild_Dogger · 03-05-2013 10:34PM

what a waste ..... honestly

Banjo String · 03-05-2013 10:37PM

irish-stew wrote: »

Where does it say the property tax is paying for it?

Local property tax money will fund local councils and services***. (It all goes into a central fund)

***allegedly

Rosy Posy · 03-05-2013 10:41PM

So they'll dig up Grafton Street to replace the stones but they wouldn't connect the two Luas lines... :rolleyes:

donvito99 · 03-05-2013 10:42PM

Rosy Posy wrote: »

So they'll dig up Grafton Street to replace the stones but they wouldn't connect the two Luas lines... :rolleyes:

Construction starts this year... have you not noticed the big new bridge?

racso1975 · 03-05-2013 10:42PM

SH!T!!!!! Time to move them bodies

DEFTLEFTHAND · 03-05-2013 10:44PM

I wonder what they'll find? Maybe that's where Shergar is.

My name is URL · 03-05-2013 10:45PM

Clandestine wrote: »

Pink and grey? Could they have picked a worse mix of colours?

By pink and grey I assume they mean this, which is pretty typical.

Dave! · 03-05-2013 10:46PM

wtf? They'd be better off fixing the slabs at the bus stops around College St/Pearse St, they're a f*cking death trap.

Chucken · 03-05-2013 10:47PM

They dug up the road near my house a few weeks ago but I forgot to post about it.

Grayson · 03-05-2013 10:49PM

My name is URL wrote: »

By pink and grey I assume they mean this, which is pretty typical.

Or maybe this.

That'll make people puke on a friday night

oppenheimer1 · 03-05-2013 11:26PM

the groutch wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/council-to-start-digging-up-grafton-street-by-the-end-of-the-month-1.1382250

so instead of spending the property tax money on actual local services, it's all being wasted on a few fancy stones?
the local elections can't come soon enough to get rid of the eejits who decided this.

Oh for god sake, this is what the councils are meant to do and you're complaining about it??

Have you actually seen the state of the paving on Grafton St? Its not fit for purpose and needs to be changed - its over 20 (possibly 30?) years since it was last done.

The only eejit here is you.

SoWatchaWant · 03-05-2013 11:48PM

OP, Grafton Street is a main centre of commerce in Ireland. Tourists and Irish alike spend alot of money here. Replacing the dated stonework would boost sales and business. It's not a waste of money, it's an investment.

bnt · 04-05-2013 12:01AM

Praetorian Saighdiuir wrote: »

Won't somebody please think of the buskers!

OK, thought about them, after having to walk past them most nights in the last year, and have come to a conclusion: they should all just shut up and go away. I've never heard one that was worth the noise pollution they cause. Silence would be preferable.

I hope the new paving is tougher than the current paving. It's being torn up by the trucks that drive down the street every morning to restock the shops. It looks horrible, but tourist season is already kicking off, so the timing is impeccable, as always. :rolleyes:

oppenheimer1 · 04-05-2013 12:03AM

bnt wrote: »

OK, thought about them, after having to walk past them most nights in the last year, and have come to a conclusion: they should all go shut up and go away. I've never heard one that was worth the noise pollution they cause. Silence would be preferable.

I hope the new paving is tougher than the current paving. It's being torn up by the trucks that drive down the street every morning to restock the shops. It looks horrible, but tourist season is already kicking off, so the timing is impeccable, as always. :rolleyes:

So do it during the Winter - with the Christmas shopping in full swing? There is never a great time to do jobs like these, just have to suck it up until its done.

I'd advocate some sort of rates reduction or holiday for the businesses affected though.

The Barefoot Pizza Thief · 04-05-2013 12:11AM

Was a time you could drive down it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWUferyKCww

YellowFeather · 04-05-2013 12:38AM

Ah - really? Is this this time to do this? I work beside Grafton Street and spent a lot of time pounding its pavements and never thought to myself this needs to be replaced! I'm sure the new look will be clean and modernish, but what's wrong with a bit of character?

Aside from the fact that it's ludicrous to be prioritising this kind of work at the moment, I really don't see the necessity in covering Grafton Street in a whole pile of bland slabs that will be outdated again in another decade or so.

Is there an actual reason for this renovation, or is it a keep up with the Joneses exercise?

People don't come over to Ireland for the shopping experience. I don't see how commercialising the pavement of Grafton Street can do anything for us (although, at least the colours would match our beloved Spire).

Dyr · 04-05-2013 12:41AM

Will it be that poxy smooth granite that the corpo seem to think is so suitable for a country where it rains every day?

bnt · 04-05-2013 12:46AM

I just read the article - should have done so earlier. The works are expected to take 18 months, including two summers and the whole Christmas season this year.

O RLY?

oppenheimer1 · 04-05-2013 01:01AM

For anyone thats interested, this is what DCC have planned for the area:
http://www.dcba.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Part-8-Explanatory-Booklet-Reduced.pdf

There are mock-ups of what the repaved street will look like at the end.

YellowFeather wrote: »

Ah - really? Is this this time to do this? I work beside Grafton Street and spent a lot of time pounding its pavements and never thought to myself this needs to be replaced! I'm sure the new look will be clean and modernish, but what's wrong with a bit of character?

Aside from the fact that it's ludicrous to be prioritising this kind of work at the moment, I really don't see the necessity in covering Grafton Street in a whole pile of bland slabs that will be outdated again in another decade or so.

Is there an actual reason for this renovation, or is it a keep up with the Joneses exercise?

People don't come over to Ireland for the shopping experience. I don't see how commercialising the pavement of Grafton Street can do anything for us (although, at least the colours would match our beloved Spire).

For someone who walks up the street regularly, you mustn't look around much. The bricks are loose and DCC says they require maintenance on an almost daily basis. many of the tiles are cracked and are trip hazards. indeed some tiles and bricks are missing and have been filled in with loose tarmac.

The whole street currently looks shoddy and the work is both essential and over due.

Corruptedmorals · 04-05-2013 01:29AM

Great, long overdue. The way it is now there's always loose, cracked bricks, bits fenced off for fixing and the white bits on the sides are deathtraps in the rain. I always thought the contrast of really extravagant looking Christmas lights on a dangerous and crappy looking street like that was very odd.

IngazZagni · 04-05-2013 01:30AM

In recent times Grafton Street has got really bad. Patch job after patch job has left it looking really tacky. There are lots of loose bricks and the surface is uneven. This is badly needed. I question the length of time they say this will take. It seems a huge amount of time. Oh well it will be nice when complete I'm sure.

pebbles21 · 04-05-2013 01:42AM

Did'nt the mighty Mick Wallace and his army do this many moons ago?

Think He will get the contract this time?......Maybe not!

belcampprisoner · 04-05-2013 01:57AM

I hope the landlords are paying for it,they should have waited until the tourist season was over in ameica it would take 2 weeks
it will take over 2 years,if Dublin council does it 3 years

stefan idiot jones · 04-05-2013 03:00AM

Bambi wrote: »

Will it be that poxy smooth granite that the corpo seem to think is so suitable for a country where it rains every day?

What I like about Irish Cities and Towns is the bright colours they use. Whereas cities like Edinburgh and Prague can get away with being predominantly grey due to the stunning architecture, I'm afraid that Dublin cannot and would benefit with a splash of colour.

They're Digging Up Grafton Street

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