The time people spend commuting will continue to get worse without an “improved and sustainable public transport system”, the National Transport Authority has said.
The NTA has published details of 390 households out of a total of more than 1400 that stand to lose part of their gardens.
The authority has issued letters to affected property owners on the final six of the 16 proposed bus corridors in recent days , which include Bray (166), Ballymun (80), UCD (67) and Ringsend (2) to the city centre, Blackrock to Merrion (51) and Finglas to Phibsborough (24).
Households that stand to lose part of their front gardens under plans published on Tuesday lie on St Mobhi Road, Botanic Road, Finglas Road, Pembroke Road, Merrion Road, the Stillorgan Road, Dublin Road and Nutley Lane.
Two alternative arrangements for St Mobhi Road on the Ballymun to city centre corridor have been presented for consultation.
Public consultation
A total of 251 car-parking spaces could be lost along these corridors and 825 trees removed. Public consultation in relation to these corridors is open until April 30th.
BusConnects aims to overhaul the current bus system in the Dublin region by creating 230kms of dedicated bus lanes and 200kms of cycle tracks along 16 of the busiest corridors along with a redesign of the network.
The authority said the project will deliver journey time savings of up to 40-50 per cent on each corridor. The authority added that Dublin and surrounding areas are seeing congestion getting worse, highlighting recent research from motor data company Inrix that said Dublin is one of the worst cities in the world to be a driver due to traffic congestion.
“The bus is the proven solution to cover the large low density style of Dublin and the surrounding area and without improved buses and safe cycling the congestion will get worse,” an authority spokeswoman said.
“Without an improved bus system and better bus lanes and infrastructure we won’t be able to offer the new housing developments, business parks, schools and shopping areas in and around Dublin a viable alternative to the car.”
Anne Graham, the authority’s chief executive said the NTA will continue to hold public information events over the next two months in relation to the bus corridors.
‘Alternative layout’
“It has been encouraging to see the high-level of engagement that we have witnessed as part of the consultation process. Through feedback and observations, we have already suggested a number of solutions including an alternative layout at Santry on the Swords to city centre route,” she said.
The authority has previously said those affected will lose on average one to two metres of their front garden but some properties could lose up to four metres. Those affected will receive an average compensation payment of about €25,000.
The BusConnects core bus corridor project is subject to approval by An Bord Pleanála and construction of new lanes would not begin until 2021.
Separately, a revised redesign of the network of the bus network is due to be published in the coming months.
