Dublin People - Council scraps QBC route after major objections

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Council scraps QBC route after major objections

Thursday, 29 May 2008

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown has bowed to the wishes of local residents in South County Dublin by reversing a decision to build a e15 million quality bus corridor (QBC).
Extensive public consultation had been carried out in relation to routing the orbital QBC along Mount Anville Road and Foster’s Avenue in Mount Merrion.
However, vehement opposition from residents along the route and local councillors to the plans has forced the local authority to scrap the proposed route and instead go along the Lower Kilmacud Road and onto the N11 via Stillorgan.
The proposed QBC was part of the 'Dundrum Orbital' - linking the DART in Blackrock to the Luas in Dundrum through Sandyford, UCD, Foster’s Avenue and Mount Merrion Avenue.
Residents in Mount Merrion and Mount Anville opposed proposals to narrow the width of the road around Foster’s Avenue. They maintained that this would eat into green spaces outside residential homes in order to accommodate bus and cycle lanes along the QBC.
In addition, they criticised the council’s lack of analysis as to how the UCD campus plans would affect the movement of traffic on Foster’s Avenue.
They also expressed concern at a percived lack of exploration into the positive effects that the long mooted Eastern By-Pass could have for the many traffic junction black spots in the area.
In a letter to councillors, the director of the council’s Transportation Department, Tom Loftus said the Mount Anville/Foster’s Avenue Route had “significant disadvantages”.
“A length of the road is not a recognised bus route and we can only achieve a limited amount of bus priority if we are to minimise the adverse environmental impact of the scheme,” he said. He added that the alternative Lower Kilmacud Road route already had bus services and that the road widths there indicated that “significant bus priority could be achieved”.
“This route also complements our existing objective to link the Sandyford Business Estate to Blackrock via Stillorgan,” he added. “The orbital QBC would then continue along the N11 and down Mount Merrion Avenue to Blackrock.”
However, he added that the controversial route could be revisited at some point in the future.
In welcoming the decision, Cllr Gerry Horkan (FF) said: “I am delighted that the council has decided to abandon the completely unviable proposal. The volume of traffic and the width of the road were never going to provide a quality bus corridor on that route.”
Cllr Gearoid O’Keeffe (Ind) said the proposed route would have created traffic chaos at the N11 and Goatstown junctions.
“Tom Loftus deserves credit for accepting that the issues raised against the proposed QBC were sustainable and that the proposal should therefore be scrapped,” he said.

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