New traffic management plan for Dublin revealed

PROPOSALS FOR a new Dublin city traffic management plan - which may include a temporary "Bailey bridge" across the Liffey at Marlborough Street, as well as restrictions on bus parking, road closures and pedestrianised zones - were revealed to an Oireachtas committee yesterday.

Details of the traffic plan, which is aimed at keeping the city moving during almost a decade of surface and underground railway line building, were presented to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport by the Dublin Transportation Office.

Stressing the urgency of rerouting bus routes and eliminating traffic from the construction zones, the office said a draft plan had to be ready for an all-agency steering committee meeting in May. The committee will be headed by Dublin City Council, which has overall control of traffic management and its measures are to be in place for the start of construction on Metro North in 2010. At that point, according to transportation office planner Michael Ahern, vehicles will already have been banned from O'Connell Street, College Green and lower Grafton Street.

To cope with the remaining traffic, the office suggested a temporary Bailey bridge may be built between Marlborough Street and the south quays. This was in addition to the proposed Macken Street bridge, which is not due for completion until 2010.

Mr Ahern told the committee there would be number of Luas lines including the extension from Connolly Station to the Docklands; the city centre to Lucan line; the line to Liffey Junction; Metro West and Iarnród Éireann's underground inter-connector between Heuston Station, via Christchurch and Pearse Street to Connolly Station.

A whole range of measures would be required he said, explaining that valuable road space could no longer be given to Dublin bus for use as waiting areas, while further restrictions on private cars were a given, Mr Ahern added that the plan would involve some bus routes being diverted and an examination of lorry delivery times. A new system would have to be put in place where lorries could not be allowed to wait hours for their own tow truck in the event of a breakdown.

Mr Ahern suggested a centralised tow-away firm licensed by Dublin City Council.

Director of the Transportation office John Henry also revealed the office had made a submission on property developer's Seán Dunne's plans for a high-rise development in Ballsbridge. The office said that if the development provided for the "storage as opposed to parking" of cars, the city could be a bit more relaxed about high-density.

Acting chairman of the committee Paul Connaughton TD, however, said he was concerned about some transportation office thinking. He remarked that if people were to be banned from driving into Dublin to work, the office would have to show where the capacity was on public transport to allow them to make that journey.