O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Judging by the absense of any press releases on the DoEHLG website over the period it was not operational at anything like the scale it was announced at. The projects funded over the period appear to have been all of a very similar nature such as drainage schemes, non-national roads, waste water/ water treatment the sort of projects that facilitate large numbers of new suburban housing estates. Urban Ireland has faired badly from the Department since 200o and abysmally since mid 2002, there is a very clear pattern.
This was one of the reasons wasn’t it for holding up the IAP since 1998 – it has been said here before that this was the primary cause as I far as I can remember.
Here’s hoping the remaining phases aren’t exposed to such cashflow concerns.One would certainly hope so and one would also hope that now Callely has gunthered the plan with the Taxi rank that he will have the decency to make sure that the money doesn’t come out of central funds this time. It also appears that Luas down O’Connell St is the only option being considered
IN&M wrote:City to get six new Luas lines under €]A €20bn public transport plan that will introduce six new Luas routes in Dublin will be officially announced by the Government next month.
The unprecedented 10-year plan, details of which have been seen by the Irish Independent, will also include the development of a metro system linking Dublin airport with the city centre.
The plan will have three major components targeting Dublin, the commuter regions serving the capital, and the rest of the country with a particular focus on the Border Midlands and Western (BMW) region.
Up to six new Luas routes will form the basis of the scheme with the light rail system criss-crossing Dublin, providing more services to commuters in outlying areas of the city.
The Luas system will be upgraded to link the existing red and green lines between St Stephen’s Green and O’Connell Street.
An extension of the Sandyford line to Cherrywood at Loughlinstown to serve areas like Glencairn, the Gallops, Ballyogan Woods, Leopardstown Racecourse and Carrickmines will be developed.
The Tallaght line will be extended to Citywest, Clondalkin, and Lucan. A brand new service in the docklands with an extension from Connolly Station to the docks is also believed to form part of the plan.
The Irish Independent has learned that the Government and the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) are in the process of securing deals with private developers to ensure they contribute to meeting the cost of the extensions.
It is also expected that new 40-foot Luas trams will be introduced to increase capacity on the system.
Under the plan, the M50 will be finished to complete the ring around Dublin city. And the eastern bypass – which is seen as the final segment in this project – will link the port tunnel to the M50.
A metro system to link Dublin airport with the city centre will start at Swords to serve the town’s growing population.
It is understood that the plan is being developed to work in tandem with the National Spatial Strategy which is intent on balancing development throughout the regions.
The plan also contains proposals for an ‘inter-connector’ rail line, which would travel under the River Liffey to link Heuston Station with Connolly Station via Westland Row Dart station.
This would act as a link between all modes of transport in the city, allowing commuters to access Luas, Dart, inter-city rail links, and Dublin Bus. Details are more sketchy for proposals at a national level, but it is thought the plan includes a focus on completing all the road links between Dublin and major cities with a focus on the BMW region.
The plan will be launched by Transport Minister Martin Cullen later this year.
“What I and the Government are now in a position to do is bring forward an ambitious, integrated plan for developing all elements of our transport infrastructure,” he said.
“The plan which we will publish will not be a collection of disjointed projects with no connecting logic. The timescale and resources made available by Government has allowed us to take an integrated approach to infrastructure planning,” he said.
“The objective is to achieve a high quality transport system in tune with the economic and social needs not of today but of the decades ahead,” Mr Cullen said.
The minister said that within the capital city and its hinterland, the provision of more roads was not the solution to transport needs.
“A high quality, high capacity transport infrastructure which will eradicate existing congestion and cater for further rapid population growth must rely on public transport,” he said.
“Implementation of this plan will have a major and positive impact not only on economic activity but also on the attractions of the city as a place to live and to work.”
The new 10-year transport plan to be unveiled by the Government proposes:
Minister Roche Announces €70 million for Urban & Village Renewal Projects
Mr. Dick Roche, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, today (14 March, 2005) announced details of grant allocations totalling €70 million to Local Authorities under the EU co-financed Urban and Village Renewal Measure of the two Regional Operational Programmes under the National Development Plan (2000 – 2006). Local authorities have prioritised the city areas or towns and villages requiring renewal/regeneration works in Strategy Documents prepared at the outset of the Programme.
This brings to €124 million the total grant assistance amount committed under this measure since the Programme began in 2001. The main elements of the package announced today include: –
A total of €18.267 million allocated to the five main cities – Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford to complete major initiatives already underway in each of the cities.
€49.154 million allocated to County Councils to fund urban and village improvement works.
A further €2.528 million has been allocated to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority to fund specific works at Grand Canal Docks.
Announcing the allocations, Minister Roche said, “I am delighted to announce this final tranche of allocations under the Urban & Village Renewal measure 2000-2006. It gives the local authorities an opportunity to plan ahead now for the remainder of the programme and build on the considerable progress already achieved. Out of the €70 million allocated today, €21.75 million may be drawn down in grants during 2005. This is 35% up on last year’s funding and demonstrates this Government’s commitment to the Urban & Village investment programme for regeneration works in cities, towns and villages throughout the country.”Details of the individual allocations are attached here http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPub.nsf/6fb57b90102ce64c80256d12003a7a0d/3bf7a7030548696880256fc50036b571?OpenDocument : (Word 45KB).
So it would appear that 54m was commited between 2001 and March 2005 for urban/village renewal or 13.5m per year, hardly sufficient given the costs of the O’Connell St works as a single project.
Its amazing how in this republic its often the most contentious items which recieve the most effort.
To Wit….A MAJOR push today along the O Connell St site to get as much work as possible finished on the “Taxi Rank”.
At one point I witnessed ALL of the cast beavering away at the two Cutaways on the Northbound side.
Its almost as if somebody was browsing Archiseek last night and found this thread……”SHYTE……The game`s Up….quick Moneypenny get me the City Manager on the secure line”……..”And the Minister”……!!
Mind U they had to make up for being absent for the past two days when approx 14 hour workdays were available,but Hey….Who wants to pay these guys weekend rates…it`s cheaper simply to let the project drag on a little into the dark damp winter ……….However work is really moving along at a fast pace compared to the rate it took the last section to be done, and no doubt the taxi drivers would be up in arms if they were waiting too long for their rank to be finished.
Theres no plans for thsi at present. I guess it will come later once the straegy for Westmoreland St is agreed.
I am sure I read somewhere earlier in the year that work on Phase II would happen over weekends as well to ensure its all complete by end of year.
It is amazing that the Taxi drivers can exert such influence and that their section it appears will be completed long before the section between the GPO and the Calton. From their point of view it must be great to have the trees removed.
Why such a gripe about the taxi rank being completed first? The rank has to go somewhere. While its not the most aesthetically pleasing place its still probably a necessary service on the street..just like cycle parking, bus stops and car park signage. Besides I dont recall the the taxi rank being treeless – the pavement will be narrower but thats it. I am sure its not only the taxi drivers that lobbied for the rank to be retained…The Gresham, Royal Dublin, Savoy and probably a majority of businesses on Upper OC Street see the taxi rank as a valuable service to their customers.. And if you are going to get worked up about the taxi rank wait until work on the outer pavements starts…they have bus parking bay (and these will affect the treeline).
It`s not really “Griping” it`s merely a questioning frame of mind as to the ethos of the HARP/IAP or whatever.
Once we have the return of The (J Arthur) Rank we them must move to the next topics such as will the right turn into Cathal Brugha St be reinstated ?
Presently it appears that the melting pot is once again on the boil and things may change immeasurably from day to day.
For Example within the past couple of days some VERY flashy new Warning Signs have appeared on the Parnell St-Cathederal St stretch.
The new signs warn of “Construction Traffic” in the vicinity and oddly enough have a seperate Large Diamond Bicycle sign placed prominently above the textual one.
Now,I`m reasonably comfortable with the City Council`s reluctance to erect and maintain general safety related or directional signage in the area so my only thought is that some unfortunate cyclist was sideswiped by a JCB bucket or perhaps ended up lying prostrate in the hopper of a Dumper Truck and the ensuing fallout prompted a response along the lines of…….”Better stick a few oul signs up Owen,just in case some other eejit tries it too “……
Its always best to wait until something happens before attempting to rectify the problem
In the case of many of our higher and mightier Civic Leaders Reaction is much less taxing than Prevention which tends to be expensive and if nothing actually happens then one runs the risk of being ridiculed by your immediate boss for wasting money on unnecessary frills…..Far Fetched….???? Hmmmmmmm I thought so too…..until I encountered not one …..but TWO motorists merrily making their way Southbound along the Northbound side of O Connell Bridge at 21.15 yesterday evening….perhaps the lead driver had been perusing the excellent Pictures of 19th Century Westmoreland St on another Archiseek thread and decided to re-enact some of the scenes…….Then again maybe he simply missed the signs….. :rolleyes:How did the dirvers even get over to the Northbound lanes?!
Stephen I think the aesthetics of Upper O’Connell St are of the utmost importance, and should not be considered lightly as they seem to be in the case of putting the taxi rank back.
You do not place a rank of cars along both sides a central pedestrian space, and especially not in what is suposed to be an ordered and coherent environment.
I don’t think the pedestrian has been highlighted enough – this is a pedestrian space, not one to be used by service providers out of sheer convienience. It is being reinserted for purely historical reasons – it was there before so it has to go back in now – despite the fact that the whole point of this scheme was to turn our backs on the days of Upper O’Cll St being an urban backwater that could have a taxi-rank thrown at it.The median is for pedestrians, to be used as an alternative less hectic route for moving along the street – not as a glorified taxi platform which is what it was, and what it is going to be.
As Thomond Park suggested, the Gate location provides the perfect platform for access to the rest of the city, as does Sackville Place to a lesser degree. Also when one thinks of the acres of echoing space on Middle Abbey Street, and the variety of other side streets, it increasingly becomes more and more ludicrous that what is probably the largest taxi rank in Dublin City Centre be plonked right in the middle of the capital’s principal, ordered, proprtioned thoroughfare as part of an integrated renewing scheme.
Renewing, not rehashing.
At the risk of agreeing with everything you have said above and what I have repeated ad nauseum; The planners who drew up the O’Connell St IAP got it right first time, all that was required was that it wasn’t altered unilaterally by other DCC departments and that Central Government honoured their publicity laden promises to fund it in a timely manner. The IAP was completed in 1998 7 years later it is uncompleted and is still subject to lobby group interference. This situation comes against the backdrop of the City almost being declared moribund in 2003 in which then Lord Mayor Dermot Lacy had to vote against his own block to arrest the underfunding from Central Government http://www.rte.ie/news/2003/0116/corpo.html
Wasn’t 2003 the year that the Spike was paid for and most of the work done looks like it almost put the corpo out of business.
@Graham Hickey wrote:
How did the dirvers even get over to the Northbound lanes?!
Quite a disruptive u-turn the kind of traffic movement that would catch out your average tourist from Antwerp
I have never said that I support the idea of the taxi rank returning to the street…I think as you rightly point out there are a number of other options with less visual impact. However I think a degree of realpolitik set in here and a number of parties probably lobbied at planning stage for the taxi rank to be retained while probably no one argued against. I would also argue that the plan for the street put forward in 1998 is completely different from the plan taking shape now…. so many elements have been added and subtracted. However for the record I would prefer the taxi rank to be moved. I think a reason for it being completed first is also to get the carriageway beside the median returned to use asap so that work can start on the outer pavements,
Anyone see the article in the IT on Saturday regarding the Spire. It will be cleaned next summer once all the works have been completed. The contrasting pics of the Spire when installed and the state its in today were alarming….its bloody flithy. The DCC are expecting to have to clean it every 5 years. Cost €50,000 a pop. The cleaning job will take place over a weekend next summer and require the huge crane used to erect it as well as two VERY BRAVE guys to scale it and wash it.
Also, scaffolding is going up around the GPO since Sat. I think the facade must be getting a clean. It should look great when finished if so. I think it was last cleaned in the late 1980s for the Dublin Millennium. A new floodlighting scheme should also be considered I think.
oooh that’s interesting – must take a look!
It looks grand as it is overall as rough granite like that can take the dirt easily, but the portico and that marvellous frieze does look very sorry as grubby as it is.You can clearly see the new cornice and balustrade that were added in 1984 – maybe this difference will disappear if the older granite is cleaned…
Yes it will be interesting although I have to say I like the contrast and I’m not sure if this building should be cleaned too often so as that the bullet hole marks look as defined as is possible. Has anyone ever been to the bar close to Kilkenny rail station that has a large round glass light fitting with two bullet holes one is entry and the other is exit.
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