COLLEGE GREEN IN Dublin City Centre will be traffic-free tomorrow in a trial being run by the council. 

Dublin City Council announced the measure earlier this year and confirmed that the area in front of Bank of Ireland will be pedestrianised on three days – tomorrow, Sunday 28 July and Sunday 4 August - between 7am and 7pm.

The area will only be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists during these dates and times.

A permanent pedestrianised plaza for College Green was proposed by the council in 2016 and sought to ban all traffic from the area, before being rejected by An Bord Pleanála (ABP) last year over traffic concerns. 

The council hasn’t abandoned the plan for a permanent plaza and aims to lodge a fresh application with ABP this year. In the meantime, the council is trialing a traffic-free College Green on these three Sundays to gauge public reaction. 

Brendan O’Brien of the council’s Traffic Department told a meeting of the Transport Committee in January that these traffic-free Sundays would allow people to see “what College Green can do”.

Diversions

During the traffic-free hours, pedestrian access to footpaths and crossings between Church Lane and George’s Street will remain open. The footpath on the southern side of College Green will also remain open. 

Access to cycle lanes between Church Lane and George’s Street will remain open. 

A temporary two-way cycle lane will be in operation on the southern side of College Green. 

Buses normally travelling east onto College Green will diverted onto Winetavern Street and buses normally travelling west will be diverted onto the South Quays and up to George’s Street.

Detailed information on all bus diversions and stops can be found here. 

The Luas will operate a normal Sunday service during the traffic-free hours. 

Cars will be diverted to the South Quays and Upper Dame Street. Cars coming from the Christchurch direction will be permitted to turn right at the junction of George’s Street and Dame Street. 

Access to car parks will be from George’s Street. 

During the duration of the trials, the taxi rank at Foster’s Place and at College Green will be closed. A temporary extended taxi rank will be available on D’Olier Street.

In a study carried out by Amarách Research last November for RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live and TheJournal.ie, the majority of the 1,000 people surveyed said that the area in front of the Bank of Ireland should be traffic-free. 

Of those surveyed, just 22% said that College Green should not be pedestrianised.

In June, councillors agreed to prepare and implement a “Pedestrian Strategy” over the next five years which will pursue the plaza project and which also aims to have Drury Street, South William Street, Moore Street and Dame Lane pedestrianised by 2024. 

With reporting by Cónal Thomas