A new plan targeting traffic flows in Dublin’s Phoenix Park has been proposed that would reduce commuter traffic and also add bus routes that would run inside the park.
There has never been a public bus service
inside the park and the proposal to restrict commuter traffic is also new, and something
that would be welcomed by cyclists.
A 30km speed limit is also proposed,
down from 50km. Cycle lanes and pavements would be upgraded and there would be
a total of 31km of cycle lanes, up from 17km at present.
The Cabra gate would be for buses,
cyclists and walkers only while the Ashtown gate would be for entry only and
the Knockmaroon gate would lead to a cul de sac.
The park was a major hit during the summer months when people flocked there during the lock-down and as most gates were closed to vehicles.
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Those measures effectively reclaimed
the park for people, reduced vehicles, and were very popular. However, they
were eventually reversed on the orders of newly appointed Minister of State
Patrick O’Donovan, who is responsible for of the Office of Public Works which
runs the park.
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“It’s my hope and my aspiration that
we would see a dramatic decrease in traffic in the Phoenix Park over a while of
time,” Mr O’Donovan told RTE News on Monday.
“But we can’t just pretend that the
Phoenix Park doesn’t interact with the surrounding areas; it does. It interacts
with the neighbours, the surrounding communities. And it also interacts with
commuters.”
The new proposals recommend that the
Chesterfield Avenue, the main road running from Castleknock down to the Courts
of Criminal Justice, would be the only route for commuter traffic.
Cllr Michael Pidgeon (Greens)
welcomed the plans, saying the changes brought in last summer “gave us a
glimpse of what the park could be like with few cars in it and more space for
walking and cycling”.
He added the changes now being
proposed would re-introduce those measures and make them permanent. This would
be “huge news for the park”.
The new proposals are made in the Phoenix Park Transport
and Mobility Options report, which will now be opened to a public consultation
process for six weeks from the end of January.
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