O’ Connell Street, Dublin
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Yeah I was looking round this morning trying to source another bit of room for a handful more – lots of free space in the middle there, it’s only being used as a ‘pavement’ or something….
To be fair, quite a few are temporary alongside the permanent ones – unfortunately all the new ones do seem to be needed, bar that pedestrian pole on the far left in the first pic. Surely the lights on this could be hosted on the right-hand pole along with whatever is going on it?Always room for more traffic signals in Dublin.
Just by the way the latest traffic lights being added around Dublin are set in light grey coloured boxes, rather than the usual black. Indeed I dont think I had seen a grey enclosure before this year.A second passing thought – why have so few business premises abandoned displaying street numbers?
did anyone read the article in the times today ? it just highlighted that tunnelling underground o connell street would be a potential nightmare and it could all go wrong. Plus cut and cover techniques will just make a pigs dinner of all the improvements that are being made on the street.
@Maskhadov wrote:
did anyone read the article in the times today ? it just highlighted that tunnelling underground o connell street would be a potential nightmare and it could all go wrong. Plus cut and cover techniques will just make a pigs dinner of all the improvements that are being made on the street.
Look on the bright side. They won’t start the Metro contruction for another 7/8 years so that’s plently of time for us enjoy our new street.
well lads and lassies. enjoy it while it lasts 🙂 I just think its YET another example of government waste. We couldnt plan a picnic.
I personally suspect that the Metro will never be built and that the O’Connell St Boulevard is perfectly safe.
Such a sceptic! Im a bit sceptical myself actually. I think the Lucan Luas line is DEFINATELY an election play (such a ideal constituency to get on board and isnt Ms Harney’s seat out that way) and so Dame Street can heave a sigh of relief yet. The Metro has had a lot of political mileage though so I wouldn’t completely right it off. Good to see Martin Mansreagh highlighting Bordeaux’s LRT system at the weekend which uses overhead wires until it reaches the city cenbtre core and then a ‘contact mat’ technology which means the trams travel through without and overhad clutter. The French also used the LRT as an opportunity to completely reinvent their city centre. Visit it and weep…. http://www.aerlingus.com
@StephenC wrote:
Good to see Martin Mansreagh highlighting Bordeaux’s LRT system at the weekend which uses overhead wires until it reaches the city cenbtre core and then a ‘contact mat’ technology which means the trams travel through without and overhad clutter.
Yes it was good to seem him mention this. It might be useful, though one of the problems with it, I believe, is that the mat can get waterlogged if the rain water, etc., does not flow away freely. I predict that this would be more of a problem in Dublin than in sunny Bordeaux. 🙂
But isn’t Mansergh such an awful apologist for this government. Every week, the same old twaddle justifying the latest bungling. I don’t know why the Irish Times bother employing him. I can hardly read him, as you know what you’re going to get. At least Garret had the decency to try and damn this new plan with the very faint praise it deserves.
Yes I agree. He is also unsufferably boring although I have to say Garret is not far behind. And the there is Breda at the top, ever the good Catholic. All in all makes Saturday’s comment page exceedingly dull (as Mr Kipling might say)
Well Folks,anybody out an about in An Lar last evenin will certainly now be harbouring doubts on the wisdom of giving €34 Billion to ANYBODY associated with the present “Works” in the City Centre.
At one point in the proceedings the ENTIRE stretch of wire barrier from the Aer Lingus H/O to Henry St had blown over onto the “Carriageway” this was in addition to the barriers on the opposite side which had been lying on the ground for a while already.
However as this occourence was due to the high winds we can safely assume that it`s qualified as an “Act of God” and therefore no liability is attaching to Dublin City Council,it`s servants or agents for any injuries suffered as a result of them not bothering their collective arse`s to listen to the weather forecast.
At one point the entire North Central Garda compliment of two Members were frantically attempting to warn and divert northbound motorists from running into the collapsed fencing.
This well practiced routine consisted of the Bicycle garda energetically waving his flickering LED bicycle lamp whilst jumping up and down in an attempt to avoid being struck by motorists already accelerating away from the Spire Crossing.
The other member was clinging to one of the barrel mountings clutching a short piece of nylon rope in a vain attempt to keep his finger in the dyke.
It was nearly two hours before some burly-builder types arrived with some more rope and cable-ties to secure the fencing ……at least we now know why Dublin City Council is so taken with erecting a pole for every sign…..it`s part of a secret anti-hurricane programme left over from the NDP….(Remember that ? )
Callers to the City Council Traffic Control centre were being told that …”It`s a bit heavy allover tonight luv”……
There is a very real danger that Transport 21 funding will allow the present grouping of intensely sane Professional Planners to actually go forth and multiply therefore granting them total dominance over us all for ever….
Remember that the events of last evening are available on the City Council`s Traffic Camera system and so therefore could have been studied to good effect by REAL planners if any were still in the building at 17.30 ish yesterday…..
By now it will all be only gossip with the Professionals tut tutting to each other over a rich Burgundy about how the native Dubliner is SO predisposed to exaggeration………
Has anybody got a number for Manuel Melis…? 😮I often look for you Alex wandering the streets of Dublin with steam coming from your ears! 😀
Now that Owen Keegan is heading off to run Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and chancve you might see yourself in the job of Director of Traffic? 🙂I wonder will he take his pro-pedestrian/public transport ideology with him and refuse to endorse the Eastern By-pass?
This railing has appeared unsafe for a while – last week or the week before it was also blowing over in lighter winds than those of two nights ago, but happily this problem was quickly addressed with ‘do not walk near the fencing’ signs! Is this for real? On a congested city centre street? What exactly constitutes ‘near’? Is it now the responsibility of pedestrians to estimate the line of fire for collapsing railings?
Also on the Upper street the taxi rank is as good as finished now and going on what has been constructed there, not a single tree to be planted for the entire length of the taxi rank median, spanning the whole central section of Upper O’Cll St.
This yoke has literally been bulldozed onto what was going to be a largely cohesive street plan – shovelled in by the demands of some loud voices without the slightest consideration as to its impact on city’s central street, or the Area Plan drawn up specifically to avoid this very type of development that has such negative impacts on the character and unique layout of O’Connell St over the years.It is more than notable that this rank was not included in the IAP drawngs.
One suspects some in the O’Connell Street Office are not best pleased with this either.
@Thomond Park wrote:
I wonder will he take his pro-pedestrian/public transport ideology with him and refuse to endorse the Eastern By-pass?
I can over almost all of my disappointment over aspects of Transport 21 because it looks like the Eastern Bypass has been killed for another 10 years at least.
Yea Graham…wat a pity our egalaterian tolerant City Administration has not a “Whistleblowers Corner” perhaps around the old Bird Market near Thomas St (Close enuf to Civic Buildin`s) where the Canaries,Finches,Warblers and the occasional visiting Tit could trill to their little hearts content.
To my glass-half-empty eye this Tacasai Ranc has driven a Coach and Four or several of them through the original (and innovative) IAP.
What we now have is simply the “Old” O Northern end of O Connell St repaved with sweet FA in the way of boulevard or boardwalk……At the very least surely the Council could have put somebody up to acknowledge that the Plan had been “Tinkered with” and perhaps to offer an explaination.
Ah well..not to worry they`ll make it up on Parnell Square…won`t they…???????? 🙂‘Old O’Connell Street’ – what a nice term. Never thought of it like that before. That is what it is after all.
And it still feels old too – aside from the ‘down-at-heel-environment’ to quote that classic diplomatic phrase from the IAP 🙂 – it has a different character to the southern end, more varied and visually interesting.It’s a shame in a way that one of the elements that helps generate that atmosphere is now going – the old paving. There were interesting kerbstones and granite insets about the place that are going to disappear. Can’t be helped.
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