Alek Smart

The figure that grabs me by the Short n Curlies is that 500 space underground/multi storey Car Park.
Now perhaps because I have misplaced my Pince-Nez but I cannot seem to find any mention of a Public transport quotient in this magnificent Grande-Vision for Nord-Ouest Dublin City…
Perhaps if the developers were to surrender ( 😮 ) 50 Car Spaces in favour of a small enclosed Bus Terminal or Interchange it might be interpreted as a Socially Beneficial gesture..??
Yet again it appears that Dublin City Council stands back and refuses to raise as much as an “Ahem!!” whilst scribblin the word BUS on the jotter in front of them….
Presently the area is like something from the “Living Dead” especially come evening time and the Luas has failed rather spectularly to inject a frisson of life into it.
Given that Transport 21 rather incredibly ignores Bus Travel as a viable adjunct to City Living perhaps Dublin Bus itself might get together with the Developers to see if there is a mutually beneficial package which could be assembled…?
It`s all very well getting rid of the Articulated Trucks,but what`s the benefit of replacing them with several hundred cars…even if they will be off-street and safe from the rioters…… 🙁

Well at least we have White Lines on College Green….and double yellow one`s too.
I`m sure Graham will join me in a chant of UMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm accompanied by the slow rythmic beating of a Goatskin Drum in thanks for this major advance in safety.
ALTHOUGH………..I wish I had taken some pics of the ORIGINAL markings as the new lines look VERY narrowly spaced with just about enough width for 3 Grenadier Guardsmen to stride across in…..
That is of course,assuming they want to cross legally and safely…….
And now it`s back to Graham in the studio……….

Well Hells Bells and fair play to the power of the web……Overnight the Traffic Cone Fairy swooped on Leeson St and left a considerable legacy of her wares.
At least the Street is now in a safer state than it was immediately following the original work……
The BIG question is why if the location merits coning today was it not done as part of the original job………
A fatal accident can occur in a millisecond whereas DCC appear to be prepared to take a Paddy Power attitude to the entire question…. 🙁

The interesting aspect in Graham`s Pic is the angle of the Traffic Signal array at the Cathal Brugha St/O Connell St junction.
Both of the signal poles have now been turned (by the wind ?) so that the Straight-Ahead green arrow beams its come-on over towards The Royal Dub.
This ensures that Drivers going straight ahead simply sit at what they think is a red signal,which is in fact the Red for Traffic Turning Into CB St.
It only a relatively minor delay BUT it contributes to a knock-back which impacts on the Parnell St North-South flow.
Rather more to the point it underlines once again the TOTAL lack of interest in the small items which go to make up any cohesive and efficient Traffic Management plan.
Rather more serious,but on the same topic,is the latest example of Dublin City Councils lack of interest and understanding of what the requirements of SAFE Traffic Management are.
The location is Leeson St between Pembroke St and Stephens Green where for the past week some serious Night-Time Road Planing and resurfacing has been going on.
In spite of the major nature of the work with much heavy machine movement and associated bits of shrapnel flying around there was NO attempt to have any Professional supervision or Traffic Control on site.(At a location such as this I`m afraid the labourers do NOT suffice)
Needless to Say Bus Atha Cliath similarly ignored the reality of its customers having to race across trenches and fissures as well as it`s own drivers being presented with a conspicuously unsafe environment to work in.
However today`s (Thurs) performance really held the City Council and the Gardai up for the disinterested bunch of “Observers” that they actually are.
Having completed the overnight resurfacing work the Contractors headed off to their warm beds leaving behind a series of pristine newly tarmacadam`d stretches of Leeson St.
The chorus of “Lovely Stuff” could be heard rising from this site……However,this being The Free State nobody appeared to notice or to be concerned at the fact that there were now NO road markings at all on the CONTRA-FLOW BUS LANE (Outbound) side of the street.
This lack of ANY statutory markings led to a traffic situation easy the equal of anything that downtown Tirana or Freetown could manage.
Unfamiliar drivers coming from Pembroke St to turn right into Leeson St simply turned sharp into what they presumed to be a one-way system,keeping over to their right to allow for the converging traffic coming from their left.
This seemingly sensible manouvere now left them sitting smack bang in the centre of the outbound CONTRA-FLOW N11 QBC ….
It was danger in extremis and continued all day,with only the occassional message from Dublin Bus controllers sitting isolated in their control room`s to the effect that Caution Was required at this point….As Peter Cook was wont to say…..Stating the Bleedin Obvious !
The Gardai,as ever,were conspicious in their absence with my only sighting being of a Traffic Corps 4WD officer lecturing a young female woman Moped owner on her riding skills before hi-tailing it off towards Wexford….
Is it that Dublin City Council and the Gardai are unaware of the dangers of a major arterial road having NO Roadmarkings ?
Do these bodies reckon that it is a bit of craic for foreign or unfamiliar motorists to be placed in positions of great danger ?
Did any member of the Garda Traffic Corps or DCC`s Burgeoning Roads and Traffic management team bother to come down and observe the crazy situation ?
It would appear that there is no monitoring of any of the work being carried out.
The official line seems to be “Lets wait an see if somethin happens-if it does,we`ll have an enquiry and if it does`nt we`ve saved money to spend on more fantastic projects”
it`s becoming a Mantra of mine but yet again I have to repeat ……
IF The City Councils SENIOR Management refuse to address the blatant lack of safety related approach to major on-street works then they should resign(or be sacked) in favour of somebopdy who will.
The same applies to the Senior Officers of the Dublin Metropolitan Area of the Gardai.
Ah well….Up until 1530 today (Thurs) there are still NO road markings at one of the City`s Busiest Pedestrian crossings on College Green….How Many months now Graham….????
It really is looking as if there will be no change in Official Attitude until The City Manager himself and/or his deputy are held to account following some Road Traffic Accident at one of the ever increasing locations where this Blind-Eye policy is in effect..
Perhaps if a group of concerned citizens were to buy some paint ,a few brushes and a straight edge we could do it ourselves…….Then send them the bill….. 😎

” it is a combination of excessive traffic volumes over and above the design spec for the plaza “
This sentence IMO cuts directly to the chase in relation to O Connell St and many other Irish Grande Projets.
How,why and by whom were these Traffic Volumes allowed to remain at and indeed exceed the levels which had been used during the Planning and Design phase of O Connell St`s rejuvination process.
For example Dublin Bus vehicle movements along the street in addition to the elongated dwell time at stops surely must have merited some form of professional consideration before being nodded through ?
Once again it is the simplest questions which appear to baffle our planning and design elite.
Questions such as why have Airport Bus/Coach services picking up at the narrowest point of the entire street when most Bus Drivers can attest to the extreme levels of delay which exists with Airport Bound foreign commuters having to burrow for Fares and Ask various questions of the driver.
Most Non-Professionals could forsee delays at such points and make alternative arrangements….not so DCC or indeed Dublin Bus.
The Official line appears to be that O Connell St must present a “Business as Usual” image to the world and no amount of increased risk will deter DCC from its chosen strategy.

” Will we get a Receipt ?………………….Will we Fuck !!
What a fantastic epitaph.
I hope Mr Gogarty gets his full pension due on the other side as unbeknown to himself he became the active catalyst for the greatest social change ever to come upon the natives.
His lasting legacy will be seen as forcing the realization upon the ordinary folks that they were being had left,right and centre by a bunch of self-centred aggrandising crooks….and yet even today I would wager that many of these same political mafiosi would still manage to organize a crowd to carry them shoulder-high whilst bellowing “Ye Boy Ye” to all and sundry…!!! 😡

The news that DCC are “Reviewing the Safety” of the Henry St-O Connell St-North Earls St junction is indeed welcome,as would be hearing of the Resignation of several senior officials in the same News Piece.
Are we to believe now that the entire O Connell St IAP was scribbled out on the back of a cigarette packet by some newly arrived Polish labourers (Who might just have made a better fist of it ).
This is a Flagship project of not only Civic but also National importance yet it has been handled as if it were some surburban back-garden being crazy-paved by the Cobblelocking King or somesuch.
For Crying out loud the present City Management have managed to shrug off several fatalities and heaven knows how many serious injury RTA`s in the area between Westmoreland St and Parnell Square.
At No Time have the authorities even attempted to put a Public Transport Plan in place which would allow for the SAFE conduct of Bus Business within the area which is a Dei-Facto BUILDING SITE.
Instead Dublin Bus have been facilitated,encouraged,required to push ever more vehicles per hour through what is in effect a trecherous egg-timer.
No attempt has been made either by Dublin Bus or the so-called authorities to ensure a safer more controlled flow either by diverting routes AWAY from O Connell St altogether or by reducing dwell time at the OCS Bus Stops by eliminating time consuming Cash Fare transactions.
In addition NO Bus/Coach operator should be permitted to Operate Long Dwell Airport Coach or City Tour services from this street AT ANY TIME whilst the present situation is in existance.
Instead,More routes than ever are now being stuffed into O Connell St in an attempt to prove that Paddy is thick and stupid enough to get a Quart into a Pint pot.
The vehicles concerned are now Longer,Wider and of far higher passenger capacity than ever before and yet the City`s Civic Intelligentia are of the belief that all of these EXTRA vehilcles will fit into the REDUCED amount of Roadspace without any problem..Are these people actually Professionally Qualified at all or merely escapees from some Lunatic Asylum on Wood Quay ?
The City Council/Garda Siochana/Bus Operators have had far too many “Wake-Up Calls” along this street.
Bus and Coach drivers have been attempting to raise serious safety concerns through both internal means and in the media all to no avail.
It appears that the Senior Professional Branch of The Citys Administration are not amenable to having their plans called into question by a bunch of Blue Collar Bus Drivers and the like,some of whom never even went to college.
This level of Autocracy IS now resulting in a vastly increased exposure to danger amongst the ordinary people who use the City Centre on a daily basis.
The recently introduced revised Health and Safety at Work acts SHOULD be used to force the City Council to recognize and adhere to its legal responsibilities to the Citizens but it`s doubtful if it ever will as the entire City Management structure is already closing ranks in an attempt to cover their widely exposed backsides on this one.
It really is an infuriating and depressing scenario as the thrust of Official Dublin is to lay-off the blame on the Individual Busdriver or anybody else who can be made to fit the picture as long as it preserves the sanctity of the “Professionals Know Best” theory of Civic Management.
I fully accept Graham`s point on the Crossing Point at the Spire,however It would be a worthwhile excercise to take a few trips along the street and stay near the front of the bus to observe the ACTUAL situation which prevails at this point,particularly when traffic is slow moving.
Remember the Bus is some 11.3 mtrs LONG and 2.55 Mtrs Wide so wherever it is stopped it is going to be in somebodys way.
Additionally the already discussed vague nature of where EXACTLY the pedestrian crossing points are remains open to debate as does the requirement for pedestrians to adhere to Green/Red man signals.
For ANY busy Traffic/Pedestrian crossing to function SAFELY a high degree of CLARITY and SPACE is required for both Vehicles and Pedestrians…There is precious little of this in O Connell St at present and no sign of any official recognition that it is required…Ah well perhaps the Safety Consultants which,no doubt will be recruited by DCC to tell them what they want to hear will manage to recommend a bit of black Tarmac and some White Lines as a start…….
And lets stay away from comparison with Italy,France,Spain or Timbucktou for that matter as they are NOT valid in any way shape or form to Dublin in its present state…If we need to compare then how about looking at ANY mid-size UK Town/City/Conurbation which will more than likely feature Clear and Strong methods of seperating moving 16 Tonne vehicles from rambling shoppers…! 😡

Thats an interestin pic of the Ambulance….Is it a Civil.War era pic I wonder or could it be earlier.
The flying of a Flag from it indicates that it was operating in a contested area….also the closed shops and lack of pedestrians might indicate an excessive lead to air ratio..?
On the topic of Nelsons Head,I recall my father getting over a weeks solid overtime on clean-up and reinstatement work in the Coropration at the time,he worked in the North City Paving section.
It seems that the original destructive explosion was somewhat more surgical than the “Official” Bang Mòr courtesy of àrm na hEireann which removed far more window glass and birds nests than was really necessary…Kismet,Hardy..???? 😎

Yes indeed I reckon that Dundalk Regional College would have been a far better venue….That Giant Windmill just knocks our measly ol Spire into a Cockaded Hat…!!!