O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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@Thomond Park wrote:
And after all the effort the design team put in to create a real showpiece for the City
Hi TP, yes and as I said sure the southern part of the street will be dug up for a luas extension they should have built in the first place…..is there any hope:(
I’m not so sure Luas will go down O’Connell St; Dublin Bus remain entirely opposed to the routing and they do afterall carry a lot more passengers than the RPA
Having looked down O’Connell St today it really struck me just how much a storm in a teacup the furore over the ‘historical trees’ was. The street looks like it will turn out more or less as planned and the acres of space that have been created will improve or rather introduce a sense of amenity to this great thoroughfare for the first time since Victorian times.
Having said that how did it take 9 years to complete this project? Why didn’t central government make a special effort for this project in the way they did with Farmleigh which whilst a worthy project in itself will only ever be seen by say 1% of the population. What better place to bring dignataries into the City than a grand Boulevard that has eveolved over a 250 year plus timeframe?
1 extensive archeology . sackville stret was at one time the width of south william street .
2 diversion of utilities for the luas,
3 the spike.mostly it is number one
4. A long & slow drip feed of funds.
Extensive archaeology? I wasnt aware of any extensive digs being underaken on the street. Certainly I cant imagine that any archaeological work has been undertaken on the upper street during this last phase of works. Rerouting utilities – yes to a certain extent although this would have been done regardless of the prospect of Luas on the street as they would surely have needed renewing.
The Spire – definately took way too long and I think it was a mistake to hold back the redvelopment until this was in place.
The long slow dip of funds! Think you have hit the button there Peter.I agree with many of your coments TP including the removal of trees. However, generally trees get such a poor luck in in this city that any attempt to remove them should attract some degree of protest. After all all the new planting on the street will really only look its best in about 15-20 years….providing they havent all been removed for Luas nxt year that it!
Im am dying to see some photos….and the GPO at night.
Also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first kiosks. I understand they were being installed according to interest. Tenders to build and run the kiosks were in the paper earlier this year. Some though will surely be CC run, such as the toilets.
I am also wondering if bus and taxi shelters are planned. I would also like to see lots more signs….all those JCDecaux billboards for example that will pread across the city over the next few months… bike stands everywhere so that you dont have to walk more than five seconds to park your bike. Of course, the arrival of kiosks should not deprive the existing street traders of their pitches. Also millions of big wooden summer planters should add that final touch to our spacious new boulevard!
the lower (southern) end was dug. the drip drip of money certainly slowed things down. but perhaps taking time was best. despite what has been written in some previous posts it looks like a really good job.
As regards the luas well we will see that when we see it. if there is any kind of a financial wobble the trams will be the first to go.
I am not worried about a financial wobble in the short term in Ireland; things look rosey for the five years at least twice the time required to finish which ever routing is chosen.
My worries in relation to routing Luas down the street are threefold;
- Destruction of the fine Boulevard that DCC have strived so hard to create.
- Replication of the Metro route which will arrive in 7 years time
- Severe Disruption to Dublin Bus at both Nassau Street and O’Connell Street; ; lets face it the Luas other than on Upper Abbey Street runs on a completely segregated routing either by traffic lights on the RedCow roundabout or by exclusive roadspace on stretches such as Beresford Place or Harcourt St. Put simply 10 11 11a 11b 14 14 15 15A 15B 15C 37X 40X 66X 25X 51X 92A plus Luas doesn’t go into one
Nassau Street has to be avoided for operational reasons whatever happens and this could be acheived by routing Luas down York Street onto Aungier and Georges Street via Dame Street to College Green thus creating service to areas of the City that don’t have any.
To avoid O’Connell Street the route could turn onto Fleet Street and Hawkins Street and cross onto Marlborough St which everyone would agree could benefit more from the Luas effect than most City Centre Streets. This would give a similar routing but one that hits all the destination points whilst having far fewer effects and far less replication it would also be far more acceptable to Dublin Bus.
what i still find hilarious is the notion of putting cafes in that narrow strip in the middle of o connel street with massive buses flying past just a couple of meters away. the street isnt wide enough to cater for such a circus
i think the dcc would like to move the buses to marlborough street.
My impression from all the different snippets over the years is that the dcc has a pretty clear idea of what it want to do . a pedestrian zone from parnell to the green. if the tram meant digging up the whole street again it would be an awfull shame. is it possible that while doing this work they were doing the diversion of utitlities at the same time ??? if so putting in the tram would not take very long and would only require the traffic lanes on one side to close . other wise it’s dig everything up !
with so many transport agencies jockeying for their prize project , a strong minister is needed. we haven’t got that yet . thomond your right about the combination of buses and trams. why not send the tram behind trinity. it will do it almost as fast as the college green route (much fewer pedestrian crossings) and tie pearse and the docklands into the city .
Luas must avoid O’Connell Street at all costs. The only advantage would be to move the truckloads of buses sitting along the thoroughfare night and day.
Not that there’s that many though, there’s only some here:
…and, okay some here:
…and yes, fair enough, a few more here too:
(and a couple more down there)
O’Connell Street borders on lunacy at peak times – it morphs into the giant 1980s bus terminus that never was, just disguised as a fancy boulevard.
At least things quieten down after dark – makes it marginally easier to get a clean view of the GPO and its new floodlighting:
(Apologies for the poor quality as I had no tripod nor time)
For all the light-fittings’ nasty impact during the day, their effect when operational is undoubtedly very impressive!
The balustrading is also beautifully illuminated.
Clearly LEDs, they cast an intense white light up onto the cornice as well as the upper façade in a very even fashion:
Most impressive, though I’m still not convinced about it being worthwhile considering the fittings’ impact in daylight hours – surely more discreet lamps could have been devised? Also, only this single type of lighting was trialled on the building – no other form of uplighter was tested in situ that could have yielded similar results without such an intrusive impact on the string course.
The lanterns look great too – not at all blue as might be expected by their new glass:
And as Andrew mentioned, the clock does indeed light up : )
Very nice.
Wow, finally the gpo in all her glory,
Love that image of Chu Chullain under the clock, really looks excellent.
Thanks Graham.just looking at those buses would make anyone panic…..its bad enough having to brave heavy oncoming traffic to stand beside the spire to meet someone for 5 minutes… relaxing at a cafe in the median with a latte is a helish prospect
It has scrubbed up very well indeed 😀
I have noticed the amount of illegal signage and temporary banners has showed no sign of abbating; the former arcade and now call shop on Lower O’Connell St and the Spar as part of Lynhams Hotel are particularly grotty not to mention the serial offender Funland.
The CC need to create some fun of their own with these punters 😡
Dont know if any of you have seen this ariel shot of O Connell Street from the FLICKR website, but it certainly looks the finished article, quite spectacular I think.
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