DIVERSIONS PUT IN place due to Luas Cross City works have led to significant traffic congestion on Moore Street, local business owners have warned.
In one incident, footage obtained by TheJournal.ie appears to show a Dublin Fire Brigade engine reversing down Moore Street last Friday due to congestion in the area.
Other footage shows a large backup of vehicles on the street. There are incidents of trucks reversing down a lane, cars beeping at one another and heavy traffic congestion.
Moore Street and the surrounding laneways make up a busy area in Dublin’s north inner city, connecting Parnell Street and the shopping district Henry Street.
Traffic restrictions on and around the street have been in place while works on the Luas are ongoing.
The street itself is narrow at one end and widens at the other. It has market stalls on either side and a number of different shops and cafés. The delivery bay for the Ilac Centre (which has a Dunnes Stores, TK Maxx and a number of other outlets) is on Sampson’s Lane which is reached via Moore Street.
Across and slightly down the road, there is a delivery bay for a busy Lidl, Jury’s Hotel and the Moore Street Mall which is also reached via the street. As well as this there is a Dublin City Council waste depot in the area.
Local business have previously expressed serious concerns over the works, saying that their livelihoods are being destroyed.
Recently, traffic has been prevented from exiting the Moore Street area onto Parnell Street at Conway’s pub via Moore Lane, which it had done previously.
“Chaos”
According to local business owner Stephen Troy, this has led to significant traffic issues which have further negatively affected businesses in the area.
“It’s absolute chaos. We’ve had six accidents in 12 weeks,” Troy told TheJournal.ie.
You had 30-foot lorries coming down and trying to go up the O’Rahilly Parade (which connects Moore Street with Moore Lane) and having to reverse.
Troy – who owns and operates Troy’s Butchers – is a spokesperson for the Dublin 1 Business Alliance, a collection of businesses in the area concerned at the impact the construction works are having on their livelihoods.
He said that the area had been experiencing the traffic issues for the past 12 weeks. He said in that time there had been a number of accidents and arguments between motorists.
In relation to the fire engine, Troy said he believed it was attempting to reach Henry Street via Moore Street and Moore Lane but appeared to have to reverse when the way was blocked with traffic. He said this had happened at least three times in recent weeks.
Troy said that these issues – along with the wider issues of the Luas works on Parnell Street – were crippling businesses in the area.
“They keep saying we’re going to have the benefit of this… but for me this is a permanent thing. It’s permanent damage,” he said.
New plans
As of 14 August, further traffic restrictions will be introduced to the area, which Troy said will further impact business.
A leaflet handed out by Luas Cross City states that no traffic will be permitted to enter Moore Street from Parnell Street, in order to facilitate the “main infrastructure” works of the project.
Instead, traffic is advised to travel from Parnell to Capel Street, down the Quays, onto O’Connell Street, then turn left onto Henry Street and directly onto Moore Street.
“Lorries and trucks are going to find it very hard to get into the area,” said Troy.
“They’re going to have to detour to get here which will have a permanent effect on my business.
And customers won’t be able to come in to park at all.
The restrictions are due to be in place until the end of September.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for Luas Cross City said that changes to the traffic flow at Moore Lane had been introduced during the construction in order to “facilitate the various traffic management phases required to deliver the works”.
The spokesperson said that a one-way system at Moore Lane would be in place until the end of September.
They said that the concerned streets were prone to traffic congestion before the construction works began. They also said that signage and road markings were put in place to reduce the disruption from the works.
Luas Cross City representatives liaised with gardaí, Dublin City Council officials and local businesses when devising the traffic management plans, the spokesperson said.
They said that the upcoming works for the area (beginning tomorrow) were “essential re-surfacing works required to upgrade the current cobblestone surfacing at this junction and upgrade the road drainage infrastructure”.
Permission for these works and to alter traffic flow in the area was provided for in the Railway Order granted by An Bord Pleanála in 2012, the spokesperson said.
Last week, major diversions were put in place in Dublin city centre in order to facilitate Luas works there.
Works on the Luas Cross City began in early 2013. They were completed on the tracks in June, with testing and other construction due to be completed by the end of the year.
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