More detail will be needed to assess some of the “practical issues” arising from the new transport plan for Dublin city centre, such as deliveries, waste disposal and collection, and taxi access to hotels, the business lobby group Dublin Town has said.
Richard Guiney, chief executive of the group, said it will examine the proposals carefully and in consultation with its members adding that the practical implications had to be “thought through”.
Plans to reallocate road space from cars to public transport services, cyclists and pedestrians across Dublin city centre were announced by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Dublin City Council on Wednesday.
Under the Draft Dublin City Centre Transport Plan, cars would be banned from sections of the north and south quays, close to O’Connell Bridge; Parliament Street would be made traffic free; and there would be new civic plazas at Custom House Quay and at Lincoln Place near the back entrance to Trinity College.
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The city would see far greater restrictions on private traffic, with the intention of eliminating two out of every three cars that use it as a through route rather than as a destination.
Mr Guiney said while there were “very attractive elements to the proposals”, more detail was required to assess “some of the practical issues arising and potential solutions to those issues”.
“The business community will need detailed workshops which will enable a deep dive into the detail of issues such as deliveries into and out of the city, waste disposal and collection, and taxi access to hotels,” he said.
“These need to be better understood and concerns addressed. We must radically reduce the number of vehicle movements on Dublin’s roads in order to achieve the targeted reductions in transport related carbon emissions.
“However, this will not happen if car drivers are not persuaded to opt for alternative transport modes and merely redirected to other locations away from the city centre.”
Feljin Jose, chairperson of the Dublin Commuter Coalition, said the approach to Dublin city centre had to change from being “a place we send traffic through to a place people live in and travel to”.
“Sixty per cent of traffic in the core city centre area around O’Connell Bridge is through traffic. They’re crossing the city centre,” he said.
“I’m hoping that this plan will finally implement the bus gates that were previously proposed to reduce car traffic in the city centre and speed up buses and the Luas. This would provide huge amounts of space to be reallocated to safe segregated cycle lanes and wider footpaths while retaining car access to those who need it.”
Keith Gavin, chairman of the Irish Parking Association, said an “anti-car agenda” was being pursued in the city centre and questioned the economic impact on retail businesses.
“This [plan] has to be seen in the context of the worst public transport system in Europe,” he said. “Tens of thousands of people don’t have an option but to use their car – those in the commuter belt, outside of Dublin, people with disabilities, older people. The public transport service simply isn’t adequate and to bring this in before services improve is counterproductive as far as we’re concerned.”
Colm Ryder, infrastructure co-ordinator with Dublin Cycling Campaign, said increasing the public realm was the “big seller” of the plan and would “make the difference as to how the city operates”.
“There will be some things when we look at it in detail and consider various aspects, there are parts of the plan, like George’s Street and areas like that, which need to be looked at,” he added.
The Irish Road Haulage Association said it had “grave concerns” about the proposal to close and limit access around city streets in Dublin. “We are finding it increasingly difficult to service the supply chain as it is,” it said.
“With the limited access and lack of loading bays in and around the city centres – even in some of our major towns – there is not adequate space or delivery points being afforded to high street deliveries.”
