LOCALS VOICE TRANSPORT CONCERNS

[philip]

Northside People, 5th April 2006 West Edition, P7.

A SERIES of packed meetings on transport across the Northside has highlighted the need for new measures to prioritise bus and rail transport in Dublin 15 and the city centre.

A recent meeting at St Thomas' School Hall in Laurel Lodge, Castleknock, heard how locals faced delays in getting to and from work whether they used road, rail or bus services.

The meeting, hosted by local Labour TD Joan Burton, was attended by representatives from Dublin Bus, larnroid Eireann and Conor Faughnan of the AA.

Concerns raised at the meeting included the location of the new Spencer Dock rail station and a lack of buses in Dublin west. Locals also heard that there could be an extra 6,000 lorries using the M50 after the Port Tunnel opens and this could force 'motorists off the motorway and into residential areas.

Deputy Burton said that unless Dublin West gets up to 50 extra buses and a further increase in train services, locals will continue to experience poor quality public transport.

"It seems to me that Dublin West and Dublin 15 have been left as something of the Cinderella when it comes to the public transport plans of this Government," she said.

"There are two principal reasons for the increase in journey times to town. One is the absence of bus priority measures at Prussia Street and along the North Quays where buses can be delayed for up to 40 minutes.

"The other is that because of a shortage of buses, many buses do long extended journeys around Dublin West before heading for the city centre.

"On the railway front, unless this Government gets its finger out, it is likely that it will be a further three years before any further improvements in rail passenger numbers are seen."

Deputy Burton said larnroid Eireann's plans to locate the new Spencer Dock station in the Sheriff street area was alarming news for Dublin 15 commuters.

"It's several hundred yards away from the proposed extension to Luas at the IFSC," she said.

"This means that people will be left in Sheriff Street, far away from Connolly Station or from the Luas extension, or indeed from the new pedestrian bridges over the Liffey.

"I am calling on larnroid Eireann to reconsider their plans and to properly integrate the new Spencer Dock station with the Luas and with feeder bus services in town."

Meanwhile, a traffic survey carried out by the Labour Party showed peak time delays of 22 minutes for buses leaving Parnell Square and trying to get onto the bus lane on Upper Dorset Street just a quarter of a mile away.

Bus services to Cabra, Drumcondra, Whitehall, Santry, Ballymun, Glasnevin and Dublin Airport use the lane and Labour TD, Roisin Shortall, said the survey showed the need to provide a bus lane from Parnell Square to Dorset Street.

"The buses are moving at an average speed of less than one mile per hour over a distance a person could walk in less than three minutes," she said.

"I think the survey results highlight the consequences of failing to provide bus priority measures in the city centre. It shows that while it is popular to complain about Dublin Bus, the real problem for commuters and Dublin Bus is congestion and in particular a lack of bus priority measures.

"The combination of O'Connell Street road works on the way in and this huge pinch point on the way out is making it a commuting hell for many Northside bus commuters."

[alek smart]

Well Well...I suppose a belated interest is better than none at all.
The "Pinch Point" referred to by Deputy Shortall is most unusual in that it is CAUSED to a great degree by a Bus Lane.
This long simmering and even longer ignored problem besets all Bus Routes which transit O Connell St Northbound INCLUDING the much vaunted 46A QBC.

It is now quite regular for the tailback of traffic to stretch back down along Parnell Sq West and back around the front of the Rotunda Hospital.
This ensures that 46A`s remain immobile and are incapable of reaching the Mountjoy Sq excuse for a Terminus and are therefore turned short by the harrassed stance controller.
I mention this simply to illustrate how a relatively small Traffic Management defecit on the North Side of the City can have a significant detrimental effect on QBC Bus services as far out as Dunlaoire.
It also demonstrates that we do NOT have a functional Quality Bus Corridor at all,instead we have a collection of Bus Lanes which occasionally join together.

To return to the scene of the crime however.....The total volume of traffic attempting to turn Right from Granby Row onto Dorset St at evening peak is already excessive.
There has been a total failure on the part of Dublin City Council to pre-empt this glaringly obvious developmental situation at any level.
There are currently Two simple "Fixes" which would greatly alleviate the situation here.

1. Extend the current clearway hours along Dorset St between Granby Row and Blessington Street Currently the clearway begins at 1600 by which time the parked cars have already caused their mayhem.
I would recommend a 1430 start for clearway regs here.
(Ranelagh for example has had its clearway operational from 1500 for some time past to very good effect)

2. Alter the operational hours of the Bus Lane between Blessington Street and Eccles Street to allow two lanes for general traffic in the evening peak.
The Bus Lane at this location is in fact causing a major problem for the general Bus service as the Street is not wide enough to allow for general motoring traffic to filter back into the single outer lane AND allow Buses to access the Bus Lane.
This problem is exascerbated by Left Turning traffic from Blessington St onto Dorset St having to immediately attempt to filter over into an already full-to-capacity general traffic lane.
This stretch of Bus Lane is counterproductive to Buses simply due to the fact that there is Not enough roadspace to allow it to function.
The situation clears up greatly from Eccles St Northwards as Dorset St then widens dramactically allowing the Bus Lane to be fully and easily accessed.

Both of the above modifications could be applied overnight with little more than a few new Regulatory Signs .
However as with any progressive measures it would appear a raft of consultants will first have to be fed before the Authorities will bother to take ANY action.....