New bus routes a repeat of ‘Na Fianna-style mistake,’ says Rock

Details of the new bus routes in Dublin which were published on Tuesday have received a mixed reception from politicians and commentators.

More than 1,000 homes in Dublin will lose gardens and parking places under plans by the National Transport Authority to create 16 high-speed bus routes in the city.

Under the changes, to be announced today by the authority, 230km of expanded bus lanes and 200km of cycle lanes are to be constructed within a decade.

The Green Party transport spokesman Ciarán Cuffe broadly welcomed Dublin’s Core Bus Routes as an initiative which will create key - or “core” - bus routes as part of the city’s “Bus Connects” strategy.

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However, he warned that “improvements for pedestrians and cyclists must be integral to the process”.

Dublin Chamber also gave the plans a broad welcome saying the proposal to build 16 dedicated bus corridors throughout Dublin would “help deliver improved times and make it more sustainable modes of transport more attractive”.

However Dublin North West Fine Gael TD Noel Rock was less enthusiastic, remarking that 1,300 homeowners across Dublin have “not been told” that part of their properties - typically a slice of their front gardens required for road widening - will be acquired by the local authority.

Writing to this newspaper Patrick Judge of Dun Laoghaire went so far as to enquire if the plan to “whisk ever more commuters into the city-centre hub and out the other side” was a form of joke.

In giving the proposals a broadly warm welcome the Green party said: “For far too long pedestrians and cyclists have been the poor relation in transport planning. Walking and Cycling must be seen as an integral part of the Bus Connects Project”

Mr Cuffe, chairman of the City Council’s transport committee, said “cyclists were diverted and sidelined” from main Luas routes when that service was commissioned.

“This is in danger of happening again. A visible and well-resourced walking and cycling unit must be at the heart of the Bus Connects project,” he said.

He also said it was “crucial that both transport users and land-owners are given an opportunity to have their views inform the planning process” and that it may be possible to further restrict cars in the city, rather than engaging in road widening.

The Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the proposals contain “positive opportunities, for cleaner air, safer streets, calmer and more affordable journeys,” delivering a “cleaner healthier, happier city is worth it” he said.

However, Mr Rock said he was astonished that the National Transport Authority intended to announce the plan “yet have not informed residents affected, and have no plans to do so before then.

“Similarly, their own report doesn’t outline exactly which properties will be affected by the acquisition; rather it only outlines the roads affected”.

Mr Rock said the failure to contact specific property owners “means instead of 1,300 households being informed on this matter” fears will be raised “by a multiple of several times that.”

Mr Rock continued: “This is deeply disappointing from the NTA, and displays the exact same mistakes made in the recent MetroLink Emerging Preferred Route announcement with Na Fianna, Home Farm FC, Scoil Mobhí, Scoil Chaitríona and other local organisations and residents affected either being told very late or not at all.

“This is unacceptable and I call on the NTA to remedy this before any public announcements on the matter.

“I have also written to the chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport to invite the NTA in to discuss this: progress always has a price, but decent communication, transparency and fair treatment of those affected should be an essential part of any development.”

Dublin Chamber said “it can take around one hour to travel as little as six kilometres in the city”.

“Our research has identified that Dubliners see a consistent commute time of 30 minutes as being desirable and achievable for journeys within the M50.

“The delivery of projects such as Bus Connects, as well as MetroLink, Dart Underground and segregated cycle lanes, are key to that sweet spot being hit,” said spokesman Graeme McQueen.

He said that timely delivery of the Bus Connects project is essential if the recent progress in getting people to switch to sustainable transport modes is to be maintained.