LAST UPDATE | 8 Feb
THERE HAS BEEN a difference of opinion among the business community towards plans to divert through traffic out of Dublin city centre from August.
While business lobby group Dublin Town has warned that it “cannot go ahead” before in-depth consultation happens with local businesses, taxi app FreeNow has welcomed the move and said it will help reduce traffic congestion.
The Dublin City Centre Transport Plan, announced last year, detailed plans to reduce the number of cars clogging up the streets of the city centre but not bringing any custom to businesses.
Changes to traffic management and road layouts around Westland Row and Pearse Street, Bachelor’s Walk and Aston Quay were forecast to come into effect this year.
Minister for Climate and Transport Eamon Ryan yesterday said the changes will be seen from August.
The plan outlined that six out of every ten cars in the city centre are only using it as a route to reach destinations outside of the centre. Instead, that traffic “could be removed without impacting on the vitality and viability of the economic and cultural life of this area”.
Richard Guiney, CEO of Dublin Town, has said businesses have “serious concerns” about the impact the plans will have on deliveries, waste collection and access for services and construction, along with the potential for anti-social behaviour.
He said there are also concerns that the city would become “less accessible”.
Guiney warned that these concerns must be addressed and cannot be introduced before detailed workshops with businesses take place.
Guiney said it is clear the plans are going to be implemented and that Dublin Town “accepts the reasoning behind them”, but added: “Only by fine tuning these proposals with businesses can we create a city fit for the 21st century.”
There must also be more public engagement on the plans, Guiney said, as “people must understand what is being done and why they are being asked to support it”.
“Implementation will ensure significant additional traffic, including large delivery vehicles, in residential areas,” he said.
Guiney further added that there needs to be a campaign to encourage the use of sustainable transport for those availing of both the day and nighttime economies.
However, taxi app FreeNow said the plans will “help to reduce traffic congestion in Dublin’s city centre by limiting private cars and commercial vehicles passing through the city centre”.
A spokesperson for FreeNow said this would “support greater efficiency of inner-city public transport, including the rate at which taxis can complete journeys and accept more bookings, particularly at peak times”.
FreeNow added that it estimated reduced traffic congestion at peak times could result in a 20% decrease in the length of taxi journeys and a 13% reduction in waiting times for taxi passengers, as well as a 7% saving on fares.
FreeNow also said it is “happy to provide data and insights pertaining to inner-city taxi usage and challenges from its 12 years in Dublin’s city centre”.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast today, Minister Ryan said the plans will see the bus system run “much quicker”.
Ryan admitted that the bus service needs to improve, but added that the “main problem for it is that it’s stuck in traffic”.
“One of the main beneficiaries of this traffic plan will be the bus system, which will be able to get through [the city] much quicker,” the Minister said.
“All these new BusConnects corridors which we’re about to build … that’ll be to no avail if it just comes into a city centre which is gridlocked,” he said.
Should we put a ban on cars going through Dublin city centre?
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) February 8, 2024
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan told @NTBreakfast it would be 'transformative' for the capital. pic.twitter.com/rQ1nhhbMwA
Ryan said he has been involved in transport for 35 years, adding: “Every single time we’ve come to a decision, going right back to when we pedestrianised Grafton Street or Henry Street … and on every occassion you hear people say, ‘This is disastrous, it’s not going to work’.
“Lo and behold it did – so yes, I believe it’s essential for Dublin actually.”
Speaking at yesterday’s meeting of Dublin City Council, Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney said that the plan will be “transformative”.
She said that “some people will oppose change no matter what”, adding that “you could not imagine” putting cars back on Henry Street and Grafton Street.
Green Party Councillor Michael Pidgeon said he was 35 years old and “cannot think of a time” during his life when the quays in Dublin city “have worked”, traffic-wise.
“It’s time to just say ‘enough’ and treat the city centre with respect. Piecemeal measures along the quays haven’t worked and I don’t think they will, so I think this is exactly the sort of thing we should be doing,” he said.
Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn said, however, that a lot of his constituents have “deep concerns” about the impact the plans will have on the city’s economy.
With reporting by Conor Lanigan
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