Dublin People - Council scraps QBC route after major objections

Home

News

Sport

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.

Local athletes bidding for glory

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Captain Michael Dwyer (Dun Laoghaire), Sandra Doyle (Drumcondra), Deirdre Faul (Dalkey), Peter Heffernan (Skerries), Paul Prendergast (Santry), Harry Ward (Baldoyle) and Chikoyo White (Balbriggan)...
+ Full Story

Aherne wins individual award

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Sinéad Aherne was named the Lucozade Sport/Irish Independent Player of the Month for July. Aherne scored six points for Dublin against Laois in the Leinster final to help her team...
+ Full Story

Prunty takes gold at Europeans

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Eamonn Prunty, who hails from the Dublin 15 area, achieved the feat when he came first at the EAME European Disabled Championships in Italy. Prunty posted the highest average score of 2,908.89 in...
+ Full Story

Racquetball team shines at championships

Thursday, 28 August 2008

Patrick Hanley (29) was a member of the four-man Irish national racquetball team that took on professional sides from around the world in this prestigious event. The Irish...
+ Full Story

Island Banners

Navigation Menu

Website Poll

Advertise

Private Ads Login