O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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@StephenC wrote:
Question for 2005: How long does it take to pave a street?
depends on the size of the street baddum chhhh
It is the only element on the refurbished parts of the street that is uncomfortable for pedestrians, but it’s a big one, as anyone who’s been whacked by a wing mirror will tell you
More than uncomfortable, I imagine – years back I saw the aftermath of a pedestrian being whacked by a bus’s mirror on Nassau St, with a thick trail of blood leading into Trinity College….
P.
I was on O’Connell St today and the section of paving on the left going towards the GPO appears to be close to completion, this is a welcome development.
McDonalds are rumoured to be considering a McCafe for their O’Connell St bridge outlet, I hope they change the shopfront as well
The new make over that McDonalds here got recently is not too impressive…..all those partitions look quite awful.
I think they’re alright, although not the way you walk in the door and are straight away confronted with them.
I went in there for a Christmas ‘treat’ the other day, if that’s the word – feeling thoroughly sick afterwards – but the views from upstairs are always impressive, the 1916 terrace across the road seems larger than life from up there, the Ulster Bank being particularly fine with its little ceremonial balcony beneath the columns and pediment and dome on top – a lovely piece of architecture.Here’s a couple of Christmassy pics of the street, one of the plaza limes and another of the Tree and GPO.
I think the lime lights are unimpressive, surely professional custom-made nets of lights are not beyond the means of the CC? And any time I’ve been on the street they’ve never all been working at once – the one’s that are off at night are on during the day and vice versa.The GPO’s uplighters have been fitted with white bulbs and look much better now. Hibernia’s looking well too:
I agree Graham the lights on the lime trees don’t look good at all. The trees don’t have the bulk to accomodate so many of them, all in all though its a damn sight better than previous years and the wider footpaths towards O’Connell Bridge really have moved the pinch point further up
Definitely. The plaza paving is the best part – I love that stone that turns black in the rain, and the way it contrasts with the lighter squares – it’s like a giant chess board!
The lights on the limes aren’t that effective cause they’re just strings that have been dumped on them, many of which only dangle half way down the sides – rather than custom-made sets that either create a scattered starlight effect, or highlight the profiles of the trees.
What I also really like on the Plaza are the new traffic lights, the design is so fresh and the number of them as well, if only College Green could get a similar treatment. There is growing evidence that the revamp has helped property values on the sections of the street close to the revamp.
There must now be a compelling case to extend the O’Connell St plan into Westmoreland St at least which is now exhibiting the worst symptoms experienced by O’Connell St before the plan was launched.
College Green has just recieved the traffic light treatment, and is a big improvement, including the sequencing being changed so you’ve enough time to cross in a semi-digified manner 🙂 But you still have to wait ages for the green man.
The new lights & sequencing at College St are esp welcome.The idea of revamping Westmoreland St I’ve always found more appealing than O’Cll, simply because it’s more compact and more obviously linear and clean-cut in layout. If they feck up the trees here I’ll uproot them myself!
Would have liked to see Westmoreland done at the same time as O’Connell St. I doubt in 1997/8 during the IAP writing it was even considered nearly (if not) a decade would pass before this neglected street would be tackled, let alone be finished.They changed the light sequences on the BOI side but not at the TCD/Westin crossing which is as bad as ever,
Regarding Westmoreland St I agree that it could be possible to execute it cleanly, it is a very short and entirely straight street. The difference it would make would be amazing, there is a story on http://www.rte/business today that Dublin has received its highest ever footfall averaging 660,000 per day,
It really displays the reality that if you make a cityscape more appealling that ‘they will come’ the City really needs to start expanding both the Southern and Northern Cores into each other, you can see this happening on Lower O’Connell St and at the end of Grafton St, the types of retail use down there couldn’t have been imagined a decade ago.
Westmoreland St really isn’t pulling its weight as is, at all.
Not always good having the place full of people – town was a flippin nightmare today!
Ah no – it’s really good to see people coming back – heard a number of people referring to Switzers over Christmas, don’t know if they were looking for it or what, but it’s great to have people making a conscious decision to come into town now. I’d certainly agree with Thursday being the busiest of the weekdays!Clery’s is really fulfilling its role now in attracting people to O’Connell St – everyone’s talking about it, the jewel in the street’s crown that was obliterated with muck for the past 40 years – it’s extraordinary to see it suddenly come into its own, no doubt the glossy telly ads are helping!
Have the Trinity lights not been tweaked on College St? Surely they have been at the College side of the island – you don’t have to wait for half an hour any more?!
Cleary’s really has dusted the cobwebs alright,
The product offering was surprising to someone whoi hasn’t been in there for quite a while, Bests menswear also has really good stuff and they really did an excellent revamp of their store. Rumour has it that Arnotts have acquired the Indo HQ and will shortly be submitting a planning application which really is fantastic news, I just hope that they open up the back of the building to provide a continuity of the GPO arcade which is one of my favourite places in Dublin particularly on a wet November day when Henry St is totally packed.
Maybe they have tweaked the lights on College St a little, but I was there over 5 minutes one cold evening before Christmas, I don’t want to sound like a whinger but I have delibretely selected other routes where possible since, it does the shops on that side no good, at all.
I know people who do the exact same thing! It’s so frustrating to get there and then suddenly remember – arrgh, why did I come this way again! Interesting to note how a simple signal issue can affect trade along here
Clery’s is really looking stunning now – those white columns are just magnificent (some still have 20’s electrial shafts attached!) The staircase is stunning, (and it’s inch-piled carpet) as are the oak Govt Bldgs-like doorcases at the top leading into the Tearooms – all impeccably tasteful 🙂
The dark wooden floors were a good choice over the more conventional sandy shades, and various other details are equally well thought-out.
The menswear dept in the basement (now there’s a surprise) is another hidden asset of Clery’s. The recently opened Discount Electrical down there is housed in what appears to be an old store or section of some kind, with what appears to be very fine original plasterwork – more worthy a look than the plasma screens beneath 🙂@Thomond Park wrote:
Regarding Westmoreland St I agree that it could be possible to execute it cleanly, it is a very short and entirely straight street. The difference it would make would be amazing, there is a story on http://www.rte/business today that Dublin has received its highest ever footfall averaging 660,000 per day,
It really displays the reality that if you make a cityscape more appealling that ‘they will come’ the City really needs to start expanding both the Southern and Northern Cores into each other, you can see this happening on Lower O’Connell St and at the end of Grafton St, the types of retail use down there couldn’t have been imagined a decade ago.
Westmoreland St really isn’t pulling its weight as is, at all.
I’d love to know what basis those figures are on i.e. what Streets the information is taken from, are these genuine shoppers or are people simply passing to and from work also included? Regarding the theory of growing both cores into each other, would it not be better to try and take some of the pressure off Henry St and Grafton St by encouraging the growth of retail in places like Lower Abbey St and into Temple Bar?
O’Connell Street Improvement Works
18 Oct 2004O’Connell Street Improvement
O’Connell Street improvement works have been designed to upgrade the environment for pedestrians and shoppers by reducing rat run traffic flows, widening pavements and with new tree planting creating a spacious and elegant boulevard. The design incorporates natural granite paving for the central median and footpaths extended to approximately twice their previous width. A new public lighting scheme together with specialist street furniture will be provided. On completion of the scheme 145 semi-mature trees will have been planted – more than double the original number.At this time, work is complete in the area between Henry Street and Abbey Street including the Spire and the GPO Plaza. The Plaza as the centrepiece of the street, is formally enclosed on three sides by 27 clipped lime trees. Combined with ground and mast lighting this creates an important civic space for the city.
The area of the remaining works stretches northwards on Upper O’Connell Street from Henry Street/North Earl Street to Parnell Street and southwards on Lower O’Connell Street East from Middle Abbey Street to Eden Quay.
The widened footpaths and central median will be paved in granite and the carriageways will be surfaced in asphalt.
The works include the provision of a new public lighting scheme and street furniture, the planting of 84 trees – 42 on the footpaths and 42 on the median.
Since the completion of the major civic works including the Plaza, the Spire and the Luas shoppers have returned to O’Connell Street in great number.
Access to the 3,000 shoppers’ car spaces in the area has improved and the number of transactions in the retail till is up by around 5%.
“On completion of the scheme 145 semi-mature trees will have been planted – more than double the original number”
That argument is akin to the health service logic of throwing more cash in – ‘it has to be better’
How the trees are used is what counts. (Promise not to mention trees again for at least 2 days :))Otherwise the Plaza is fantastic, and the use of black asphalt on the roadways I think works particularly well for O’Cll St. Although conventional, I think it is more appropriate than other paler colours that may have been considered, which would have led to a bland beigey overload on what is a very sombre, almost washed out street in places.
In contrast, I think a sandy shade would look particularly good on D’Olier St, matching the colours of the WSC shopfronts and general tones of the upper floors.A point has been made on http://www.platform11.org that the potential impact of a Luas line on O’Connell st could generate enough enough opposition to postpone its implementation. Looking at the Central Plaza and O’Connell monument I believe that there is a certain merit in that argument.
How do you think that a twin tracked Luas line would impact on the objectives of the O’Connell St IAP?
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