PLANS HAVE BEEN announced to pedestrianise streets in Dublin city centre, with five streets being trialled.
The trials will run between 11am and 7pm on four consecutive weekends beginning 25 July.
The streets included are Anne St South, Duke St, South William St, Drury St and Dame Court.
As part of the plan, all car parks in the area will remain accessible and won’t be blocked off by the pedestrianised streets.
Green Party councillor and leader in Dublin City Council, Michael Pidgeon sees this as a positive development.
“The streets we’re looking at here are relatively low hanging fruit for the streets in the area,” said Pidgeon.
Pidgeon believes that the impetus for this change comes from the Covid-19 pandemic and the reduced traffic coming into the city centre.
On Anne St South, in particular, a petition signed by all businesses to pedestrianise the street so outdoor seating can be installed was recently passed on to Dublin City Council.
“It’s a no-brainer to pedestrianise these streets,” said Pidgeon.
Pidgeon was hoping that the trials would last for weeks rather than weekends, but that the weekend trials will show the benefits of pedestrianisation.
One solution floated by Pidgeon would be to pedestrianise streets similar to how Grafton Street is, where delivery vehicles are able to access the street at certain times of the day.
Graeme McQueen, Head of Communications with Dublin Chamber believes that the move to pedestrianise more streets in the city centre would be good for businesses in the area.
One of his concerns is that the return of footfall in the Grafton Street area hasn’t been as high as it is around Henry Street, and pedestrianisation could help solve this issue.
He also said that by using trials, people will be able to get a sense of how it’s going to work if it were to be made permanent.
People are also more aware of space due to Covid-19, says McQueen and that through pedestrianisation more space will become available.
“It makes for a better, more family-friendly feel to the city centre,” said McQueen
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