O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Tell me about it :rolleyes:
Yes it was very strange what happened with the lime tree. Bizarrely, the previous Fiday I was passing by thinking it would only be a matter of time before one would be knocked out, and wondered if DCC are growing replacements simultaneously. Then returned on Monday morning to this!
The tree, on the median behind Larkin, was swept clean away, along with two substantial traffic signal poles and a street sign – all by what was a very modest truck supposedly doing 30kmph. It mounted right up onto the median of the Plaza. I have pictures of the disaster minutes after it happened, but can’t connect the camera at the minute. It was a right mess.
Well indeed and I did say that at the start. I havent heard more than he was hurt. As i said there was nothing further in the media which seems extraordinary given the prominece of the street and the fact that a fatality occured here last year
It’s a crazy street to drive along, I’m sure. People weaving in and out of traffic. And I’m as bad as everyone else.. The central median is so low in comparison to the road that this isn’t remotely suprising. It’s an awful one too with the number of buses and trucks up and down it. By all means make our main street pretty but i think that aside, it’ll never be somewhere to go to as a destination in itself.
Oh it was a pedestrian that was injured? Yeiks that must be quite severe, given the enormous impact the truck had on the furniture.
It must have been going at some speed or swerved very suddenly. Doesn’t bode well… 🙁Some photos up over on boards.ie]
You’re right Graham, the maintenance of the street is quite good, but as you’ve said yourself, one cannot help but think that all the nice work is gradually being chipped and eroded away.
The new bins look as awful as ever. What’s more, the Council didn’t even bother replacing all the silver bins (it’s as if they want to remind us how much nicer they were) with the new manky ones, so we have a completely uncoordinated approach to the street furniture. Also, most of the bins, as is the case on Henry Street, have been placed randomly all over the street. No thought has been given to making sure there’s an even number of bins or that they’re parallel etc. to one another.
Those new electrical boxes look ridiculous, trees have been permanently removed to make way for the cleaning of the ‘self-cleaning’ Spire, and I’m not even going to comment on the ‘traffic pegs’ erected on the street to serve as a cycle lane. SOOO CLASSY!
It’s only a matter of time (at this rate two or three years) before the street looks as tatty, dirty and rundown as most of the others in Dublin. Such a shame.im in favor of giving either:
a) giving the whole street to pedrestrians and outdoor seating
b) the council commiting to connecting parnell sq and st stephens green with a 100% pedestrian st
kinda like the parnell framework planor
c) the west side to the pedrestrians east side to luas and cyclists
In my eyes the whole link needs to be redone any street crossing oconnell st should only have 2 lanes one way
pedestrians should have priotry crossingeither way the intent is there they just need to get rid of all the cars taxis buses
and they should redo oconnell st bridge!!! line up the five lamps…
Since last week we now know that the “Floppy Poles” between Abbey St and Eden Quay are “Temporary” and “Experimental” and that they are indeed part of the Councils measures to decide IF the Street is suitable for a Cycle Lane… :rolleyes:
I know,I know….I watched the RTE News piece with ever widening eyes…God love Dr Mike McKillen,he played a blinder and sounded the pinnacle of reasoned good sense in relation to cycling priorities.
However for the Council to send out a representative and spin a load of funnel-web spider crap about this being an experiment simply treats us all like imbiciles.
For crying out loud…this latest thing is the 3rd seperate attempt to cyclify O Connell St and fails for the exact same reasons as the rest……Thousands of Bus movements into and away from the Kerb on both sides of the Street can never equate to a safe environment to superimpose a cycle lane onto…NO matter what amount of floppy poles the council have in stock…
It`s also interesting that some nocturnal artiste was despatched to paint a solid white line along the row of floppies since the RTE report so we now have two seperate methods of restraint….All of this whilst the central median REMAINS as little more than an interesting place to watch parked bicycle carcasses decomposing in the blistering heat…….:o
Yes as long as the street is dominated by bus stops, no amount of creative measures are going to improve the lot of cyclists. It really is so dangerous.
Just some further pictures of the incident during the week. Speak for themselves really.
Well there’s some good news emerging for the Upper street. The OPW has just lodged a planning application for the replacement of all the decaying timber and grotty aluminium window frames – both featuring delightfully insular mirror glass – of the Hammam Buildings complex. It’s a large and diverse collection of buildings, spanning much of Upper O’Connell Street, Cathedral Street and Thomas Lane to the rear.
Unfortunately the drawings enclosed with the application do not appear to include the adjoining block, also owned by the OPW, and arguably the most in need of attention from an aesthetic perspective.
I assume as they’re relatively modern white aluminium, they’re deemed to have a bit of life left in them yet…
At present the Hammam Buildings block, built around 1926, features stained, top-hung casement timber windows, probably dating from a quick-fix replacement in the 1960s and now in a state of decay.
They’re actually not bad, but the mirror glass does them little favours, and the opening lights are unduly cluttering, ill-proportioned and finnicky.
Lovely metalwork up there too, and good Grecian carvings below.
Delightful octagonal windows to the upper corners: these once tilted.
Every one of these windows, octagons excepted, are to be replaced with bronze-effect sliding sash windows, with metal to the exterior (presumably aluminium) and timber to the interior. The first floor (beneath the balconies) will feature pairs of sashes in each opening. The octagons will be replaced with tilting frames.
Given the exact same description is given in the application for these windows recently installed on Cathedral Street, it seems this is what we’ll be getting.
You can just about make out the timber finish inside. These should look great against the bone white Portland stone of the principal facade, and the sultry granite elsewhere. Fresh and streamlined – but slightly clunky perhaps? Hopefully it’s just the shadows. Regular cleaning of them should also be undertaken. Urban dirt builds up so fast on dark surfaces.
Of course the crucial question to be asked is, what windows did Hammam Buildings have originally? There’s no surviving or indeed former examples of bronze sashes on O’Connell Street, nor bronze windows of any kind as chunky as those proposed. That’s not to say this building didn’t have them – indeed as a State project when built, it’s possible it was one of a kind in that respect.
The only surviving windows on Hammam today are these lovely slender bronze profiles on the ground floor mezzanine.
Beautfully detailed. These are to be conserved.
This always makes me laugh when passing along here, allbeit for the wrong reason. “Ooops – our ham-fisted replacement window doesn’t open thanks to the adjoining capital. Oh well – we’ll just knock it off with a lump hammer” :rolleyes:
The joys of inflexible mass-produced windows and their considerate installers.
Significantly, it appears this right-hand window is not to be replaced, though that is open to correction. A shame if the case. Notable that it’s the only window that actually requires sensitive reproduction…
The imposing corner block and red brick facade to Cathedral Street will also have their mirrored aluminium frames replaced with ‘bronze-like’ sashes.
Oh the lightness of touch!
The first floor to Cathedral Street was already replaced this year.
Hmmmmm……
It would be great if the far left building on O’Connell Street is being dealt with too – so shamefully blank.
The application has yet to be decided.
Fucking idiot driver above. Should be banned. Could have been a catastrophe, like the bus incident a few years back on the quays. Half the folk on Irish roads today just can’t drive.
@GregF wrote:
Fucking idiot driver above. Should be banned. Could have been a catastrophe, like the bus incident a few years back on the quays. Half the folk on Irish roads today just can’t drive.
I think he had a stroke or something like that – God’s own way of banning you from driving?
I think it was a heart attack. Can’t call him an idiot if it was not intentional. Accidents happen unfortunately.
Regarding the pedestrianisation of O Connell Street and the links to Stephens Green and Parnell Square, Brian McGuinne of Mitchell + Associates (landscape architects for O Connell Street) gave a very interesting paper at one of the recent conferences about landscape architecture in Dublin and spoke about the design principles behind O Connell Street. That is, doing the opposite to the Ramblas where the footpaths along the building edge are too narrow to allow activity. He also spoke about connecting Stephens Green and Parnell Square but without providing a fully pedestrianised route, which seemed to make sense. I will post some of his notes here.
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