Updated 6.10pm
DUBLIN BUS IS to change some bus routes from Monday 29 January in order to improve journey times in the city centre of the capital.
Earlier today, it told TheJournal.ie that it is monitoring traffic congestion issues at the College Green area after reports of serious delays this morning.
Commuters said that they saw dozens of buses backed up on Dame Street, and that traffic had been brought to a standstill.
In a statement on its website this evening, Dublin Bus said that in conjunction with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Dublin City Council (DCC), it will make route changes in the College Green area “to alleviate delays being experienced by customers travelling through the city centre”.
It says that it is going to realign some routes “to improve the journey time for our customers and facilitate a more effective movement of public transport services through the College Green area”.
The NTA said that some of these services will be routed away from D’Olier Street, College Street and College Green through Hawkins Street, Townsend Street and Westland Row.
The combined impact of these changes will enable the traffic signalling system and junctions in the College Green area to operate more effectively.
The National Transport Authority will continue to work with Dublin Bus and Dublin City Council to monitor the impact of these adjustments. Should a further reduction of vehicles travelling through this area become necessary, a number of other measures will be considered for implementation. Those additional measures would include some further bus route changes in addition to potential taxi restrictions. However, these will only be considered in the event that further vehicle reductions are required.
Routes 25, 25a, 25b, 25d, 37, 39, 39a and 70
Routes 25x, 27x, 32x, 33x, 39x, 41x, 51x, 66x, and 67x
Dublin Bus said it “will continue to work with the NTA and DCC to improve bus priority measures in the area which is crucial for the effective operation of all public transport in our city”.
Dublin Bus will monitor the impact of these changes with the NTA and DCC.
Customers can also get updates on Facebook, on Twitter @dublinbusnews or on its customer service line on (01) 8734222 (lines open from 8.30am – 6pm Monday to Saturday excluding public holidays).
This morning, a number of commuters expressed their frustration at the situation on Twitter. One user said that the Luas is “wreaking havoc” on traffic in the city centre.
“Pretty sure that the people who came up with this do not take public transportation.”
Concerns have also been raised about whether the congestion problems will get worse once the Luas trams get longer, which is scheduled for the beginning of April.
In response to a query from TheJournal.ie on whether the new Luas Cross City route had caused the traffic congestion this morning, a spokesperson said the following:
Dublin Bus is monitoring closely the traffic management issues in the College Green area and is working with Dublin City Council, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Transdev to assist in the alleviation of some of the traffic delays that have occurred in the College Green area over the past few days.
Earlier this month, Transport Infrastructure Ireland said that the extension of the Luas Green Line, which opened in November, was having some “teething problems”.
“We ask them to bear with us in the interests of providing a better service to the travelling public,” it said.
Dublin City Council’s head of technical services Brendan O’Brien told TheJournal.ie previously that future plans for traffic changes depend on whether planning permission is granted for projects that are ready to go.
One big change could be at College Green where DCC wants to create a pedestrianised civic plaza. The finished plaza could take 12 months to build but once the plans get approved by An Bord Pleanála the traffic changes will be implemented straight away.
It will mean that east-west movement of cars down Dame Street towards College Green will be stopped. At present, the plans are subject to a number of objections from Dublin business groups and hotels.
Dublin City Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland have been contacted for comment.
- with reporting from Rónán Duffy.
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