Many residents were unaware that Dublin’s North Strand Road would be closed to private vehicles between Fairview and the Five Lamps for at least a year from Monday.
In a press release, Dublin City Council stated it was rolling out an “extensive public information campaign to ensure residents and those using North Strand are aware of the road closure”.
But North Strand resident Josephine Kelliher said she had not heard anything about the plan, which will impact inbound traffic while a €62 million cycle path from Clontarf to the city centre is completed.
“I haven’t gotten any flyers in the mail. I was not aware of this at all,” she says.
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It was a similar story for Anne-Marie Morrison who lives in North Strand and was not aware about the planned closure until her cousin, from nearby Marino, called a few days ago and mentioned it.
“We’ve not had one letter in our door and we’re right in the thick of it, so what’s going on there?” she asked.
The plan is for private vehicles to be diverted at Fairview Strand, down Ballybough Road, along Portland Row, where they will rejoin North Strand Road at the Five Lamps. Buses, taxis and cyclists will be permitted to use the route. For vehicle heading out of town, the road will continue to operate as normal.
Cusack’s Pub on the North Strand Road had received one or two leaflets showing how traffic would be diverted, according to employee Chris Judge. But in Raheny, where Judge lives, he had not seen anything about the diversions.
“North Strand Road is the main route into the city centre, so I think a lot of people on Monday are going to be in for a surprise when they see that they have to divert,” he said.
Judge plans to commute by electric scooter. “Traffic is already bad on North Strand Road. Now, it’s going to be a nightmare.”
The road closure is to allow the construction of a segregated cycle lane along a 2.7km route from Clontarf to Amiens Street.
Many businesses in the area are unsure how the road closure will affect them.
Paula Sneyd, who owns Cloud Cafe on North Strand Road, said: “There’s no doubt it’s going to affect us in a big way. Fairview is already absolute chaos.”
She thinks the increase in noise and dust from the construction may lessen the appeal of sitting outside to her customers.
“I don’t know if there is any compensation. We’re so busy at the moment. We’ve got nine people working here, so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said.
Conor Healy, who works at Courtney Motors in North Strand, is not sure what to expect come Monday due to them receiving little information about the intervention.
“We have a full diary of work for next week and we don’t know what to tell customers,” he said. “It will probably turn customers off with the road closures.”
The project is scheduled to continue into early 2024, meaning commuters like Carol McCluskey will have to find a new route to work. She and her partner live in Coolock and commute to the Five Lamps via North Strand Road.
“The closure will impact us massively. We’re moving to Swords in the next couple of weeks, which will probably make it worse because there’s no metro link and only private bus routes,” she said. “If they want to get people not commuting into town via car, they need to give more public transport options, because what we have right now is not viable.”
Three years ago, Victor Edge, owner of Edge Hardware Store in Fairview, and several businesses in the area, spearheaded by Damien Duggan of Duggan Jewellers, met the council and asked that the proposed cycle lane be located in Fairview Park instead of on the road, where it is currently being constructed. Edge said they were told this was not possible as it posed a safety issue.
“Damien Duggan tried so hard to organise people in the area, but he was forced to close down his store three months ago after being here more than 45 years,” said Edge, citing the lack of parking.
“We’ve gotten nowhere and we’re sick of it. Every shop here; we met DCC before they got the planning permission to go ahead. They never tell you what they’re going to do, they just do it.”
Local Independent councillor Christy Burke, who lives in the area, said he supports measures to limit climate change impacts and reduce car use but fears “lives are being put at risk as extremely heavy commuter traffic is now being diverted to already traffic congested areas”.
“There has been absolutely no consultation whatsoever about these closures from Monday despite what the council claims and thousands of residents and businesses are going to suffer,” he said. “My phone has been ringing non stop with irate and worried residents and business owners.
“This detour will add to the chaos. It’s already so congested people can’t let their children out of their sight for fear they will be knocked down.”
The council said its “extensive public information campaign” included the distribution of information leaflets to 60,000 homes and businesses in the area, press notices, billboard and bus stop advertising, road signage and more.
“The public is also invited to visit the dedicated project website at www.c2cc.ie for further detailed information and maps of the impacted areas.”