Business owners in Dundrum are concerned that a proposal to banish cars from a stretch of road and introduce new cycle lanes will accelerate the decline of the South Dublin village.
The main street has already experienced vacancy and dereliction in recent years, with one of the State’s largest shopping centres just a few minutes away.
“If a dead village is what they want, a dead village is what they’re going to get,” said Lance Grossman, who operates a jeweller’s on the Upper Kilmacud Road with his son Ben.
The proposed DLR connector changes will deliver 8.5km of continuous walking and cycling facilities from Dún Laoghaire to Dundrum. It will also bring segregated roundabouts, bus stop upgrades, new landscaping and junction upgrades.
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The scheme includes a plan for a new bus-only street on the Ballinteer Road. This will make the stretch between the Main Street junction and the Dundrum Town Centre Green Car Park accessible to buses and emergency vehicles only. The consultation period has just concluded.
Ruth Deveney, owner of Deveney’s wine shop on Main Street, feels the idea that “everyone can take the bus, walk or cycle in all weather” is “unreasonable”.
She said the village “has struggled for the past 20 years as a result of the volume of vacant commercial units which have since become derelict. If we continue to follow the council’s trajectory, there will be no small independent businesses left.”
Ciarán Bent, who operates a general practitioner’s surgery in Dundrum village, is particularly concerned about a proposal to place segregated cycle lanes on the Kilmacud Road near the Holy Cross Primary School.
While he is “not against cycling”, he believes this is “an accident waiting to happen”.
“If you have children coming down, it’s a very long road with a very dangerous incline. They put their nose into the wind, they cycle like mad ... it’s an adrenaline rush,” said Dr Bent.
Lance Grossman noted that there are already several businesses closed down on Main Street, and the removal of cars from the street will further the closures.
This will bring “fewer new customers” into the village, he said.
Dundrum Business Association chairman Darren Chambers said while they support “the ambition” of the scheme, the corridor raises accessibility and commercial concerns.
He said the project should align with “the long overdue town centre redevelopment” while being “informed by genuine engagement with the local community”.
However, there is also local support for the scheme. Resident Seán Barry, who is a member of the DLR Dublin Cycling Campaign, feels “the safety benefits” of the DLR connector “are worth it”.
Mr Barry, who has two children attending a local school in Dundrum, said “they have to cross a lot of the junctions” in the village, which are “very dangerous at the moment”.
Liam Coughlan, of the Save Dundrum Village Action Committee, said he is “not against cycleways”, but is concerned because “a lot of people are of a certain age and they require their cars to get into the village”.
In a submission to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council’s public consultation, the committee offered alternative routes to the proposed DLR connector, including diverting it north of the Barton Road East-Ballinteer Road roundabout to join the Dundrum bypass.
Local Labour Cllr Peter O’Brien said there are “huge positives” to the proposed scheme.
He “understands there’s concerns from local businesses – and they’re legitimate concerns”. But he believes it is a net positive.
“I think it’ll be great for the area, I think it’ll be safer to travel for young people”, he said.
Green Party Cllr Robert Jones, who lives nearby, said the project would “finally address long-standing safety concerns, especially for pedestrians and cyclists navigating increasingly busy streets, junctions and roundabouts”.
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council, when contacted for comment, said: “This scheme will connect neighbourhoods east to west across the county through a safe, accessible, and attractive walking and cycling route with public realm and greening improvements.”
