The Dublin City Centre Transport Plan, a proposal aiming to alleviate traffic gridlock, is set to roll out next month as originally scheduled. This comes despite the fervent opposition from certain city businesses pushing to pause the plan.
The chief executive of Dublin City Council, Richard Shakespeare, has withstood the pushback from opponents of the plan, which mainly targets private vehicles, confirming that the plan will proceed regardless.
Under the plan, daytime restrictions on private vehicles commuting along the Liffey quays at O’Connell Bridge will commence on the 25th of August.
Many advocates for the plan, such as Dublin Bus chief executive Billy Hann, have expressed trepidation over potential delays to the scheme. They worry that if initial implementation does not take place before the upcoming general election, the plan might get postponed indefinitely.
The plan has garnered immense support from important individuals and groups such as Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport, and all city council parties.
The Dublin City Centre Traders Alliance, a conglomerate of businesses including retailers like Brown Thomas Arnotts, several car park owners and others, have been at the forefront of opposition to the plan.
After intervention from the Minister of State for Enterprise, Fine Gael TD Emer Higgins, Mr Shakespeare conceded to scrutinise an economic impact analysis proposed by the Alliance. The Alliance urged for the postponement of the plan’s implementation until at least the early part of next year.
Authored by Pat McCloughan of PMCA Economic Consulting, the analysis, which was presented to Mr Shakespeare on July 11th, projected a reduction of €141 million in consumer expenditure by 2028 due to the proposed traffic constraints. It also forecasted secondary costs to the city reaching nearly €400 million annually.
Nevertheless, there were several critics who argued that the report’s underlying assumptions regarding car usage for shopping and related spending by motorists were incorrect.
Support for the proposed plan saw a surge last week when Transport Minister Eamon Ryan cautioned that the project may lose its Government funding if the implementation process got delayed. He reiterated that this wasn’t meant as a threat but a simple choice; if the project didn’t push forward, the councils that were prepared to take it on would be granted the funds instead.
Last week, a united letter endorsing the plan was issued to Mr. Shakespeare by all parties concerned within the council. The letter expressed the dominant sentiment among the council members which underscored their unhindered support towards efficiently executing this plan without any unwarranted postponements.
Dublin Bus CEO, Billy Hann, has also previously encouraged Mr. Shakespeare to put the plan into action. He voiced his concern over the persistent issue of city congestion hindering the proper functioning of bus services. He stressed that unless the current situation improved, the city would continue to suffer from unwavering traffic and bus gridlocks.
In a similar vein, environmental, commuter and health establishments have also advocated for the prompt and complete enforcement of this plan. The plan, which was unveiled last year, proposed introducing 24-hour bus gates on Bachelors Walk and Aston Quay, thereby restricting the passage to public transport exclusively.
However, Dublin City Councillors were informed earlier this month that these restrictions would now be lowered, holding true only from 7 am to 7 pm daily. The Liffey Quays at O’Connell Bridge would remain off-limits for private motorists except for a slight 50m section of Aston Quay.
Designed to deter “traffic that has no destination in the city”, the plan targets the 60 per cent of motorists who merely pass through. While it doesn’t outlaw motorists from crossing any Liffey bridge currently accessible to cars, it does propose specific routes solely for public transportation and cyclists. There are also suggestions of establishing new civic spaces as part of the plan.