Re: Re: college green/ o’connell street plaza and pedestrians

Some news on this project:
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1771015&issue_id=15223

@Irish Indo 6 Feb wrote:

Council set to vote on city centre car ban

A RADICAL proposal to totally eliminate cars from the heart of Dublin city centre is to be shortly put before the city council.

If councillors approve the plan, College Green, Westmoreland Street and possibly O’Connell Street bridge will be closed to private motorists.

It would also mean that all vehicles except public transport would be prevented from driving down Dame Street from Christchurch to Trinity College and around the front of the college from D’Olier Street.

College Green would become a “public transport gateway” with only local access provided, and commuting motorists would be forced to use alternative routes in order to travel from one side of the city to the other.

The plan, which was drawn up by the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) and Dublin City Council with an input from other agencies such as the Railway Procurement Agency, has already been approved by Dublin Bus.

Computer models have been used by the DTO to determine what effect the proposal would have on traffic flow in the capital.

The plan arose during talks on the future of the College Green area, which is a favoured route for the eventual link-up of the two Luas lines.

Congested

The area is already heavily congested as it is one of the main pick-up and set-down strips of Dublin Bus and transport officials believe it makes sense to remove cars from entirely.

Senior official and project manager of the Quality Bus Network, Ciaran de Burca said: “It makes sense. Measures have already been taken to reduce traffic flow in this area. This is just the next logical step.”

Treacy Hogan