DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has voted to pedestrianise a section of Lower Liffey Street in the city centre. 

At a meeting this afternoon, councillors unanimously agreed to make the section of the street running from the quays to the junction of Great Strand Street car-free. It is estimated that 32,000 pedestrians use the street every day compared with 1,000 cars.

The council – which plans to improve the streetscape on Liffey Street over the coming months – aims to produce detailed designs for the street’s pedestrianisation which will come before the full council early next year. 

Under the proposal, traffic will turn right from Lower Liffey Street onto Great Strand Street towards Jervis Street and Capel Street.

Green Party spokesperson for Transport councillor Patrick Costello described the move as a “great win” for Dublin. “The best thing we can do for businesses in the city is to make the city a better public space which is just what this does,” he said. 

On Saturday, a group of activists blocked off a section Lower Liffey Street, located off Bachelor’s Walk, declaring it a “clean-air zone” as part of a campaign to pedestrianise more areas of Dublin City.

The occupation was organised as part of the Streets Are for People movement, which involves members of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, Dublin Commuter Coalition, the Irish Pedestrian Network and Extinction Rebellion.

Delighted to say that the proposal to pedestrianise Liffey Street Lower has been passed unanimously by Dublin City Council. #StreetsAreForPeople

— Cllr. Neasa Hourigan (@neasa_neasa) September 2, 2019

Green Party councillor Neasa Hourigan, one of the organisers of the event, said: “There’s only 1,000 cars that go down this street every day.

“It would be a prime area to carve out for some kind of low emissions zone so that people with kids, people who want to go have a sandwich, have safe climate-friendly place to be.”

In July, the same activists blocked off Dublin’s South William Street from traffic, a day Hourigan described as “hugely successful”.

With reporting from Michelle Hennessy