Core Bus Corridor Preferred Route. Third Round of Public Consultation November 2020.
BusConnects is the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) programme to greatly improve bus and sustainable transport services. It is a key part of the Government’s policies to improve public transport and address climate change in Dublin and other cities. Dublin is growing and needs a bus network that works for a developing city. The aim of BusConnects is to deliver an enhanced bus system that is better for the city, its people and the environment.
BusConnects is included in the Programme for Government "Our Shared Future" 2020, as well as within the following Government strategies:
The aim of BusConnects Core Bus Corridors is to provide enhanced walking, cycling and bus infrastructure on key access corridors in the Dublin region, which will enable and deliver efficient, safe, and integrated sustainable transport movement along these corridors.
Between November 2018 and May 2019 the National Transport Authority (NTA) carried out the first round of public consultation regarding proposals for the Emerging Preferred Routes of 16 Core Bus Corridors (CBC) across Dublin. During this first round of consultation we received 13,000 submissions in total. These submissions were reviewed and considered as part of the design process for the Preferred Route option for each corridor.
A second round of public consultation on the Preferred Route options commenced in March 2020 and continued until mid-April 2020. Notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent Government restrictions the consultation continued due to the level of interest. The focus of public queries and submissions came through emails, post, phone conversations and online submissions as all the information was available on the BusConnects website for review.
It was decided in March that an additional third round of public consultation would take place in the latter part of this year to provide further opportunities for the public to review and submit feedback to the latest set of designs.
This document is one of 16, each dedicated to a single core bus corridor. The document provides a written description of the Preferred Route from start to finish with supporting maps. It includes all revisions made, if any, since the last round of public consultation. It also includes a revised timeline for the progress of the programme due to Covid-19 implications.
The brochures detailing the Emerging Preferred Route and the brochures from the second round of consultation earlier this year are available to view and download on our website www.busconnects.ie.
Definitions of the terminology used in the document can be found in chapter 4 of this this brochure.
Considerable design work has been continuing since the last round of consultation. This work includes the following:
Designs have progressed with further refinements being made to elements of each corridor such as junctions, alignments, bus stops, cycling and walking facilities, and urban realm features. Engagement with stakeholders is continuing including engagement with individual householders directly impacted. The developing design has been, and continues to be, informed by stakeholder engagement and further detailed surveys. These include the identification of underground services and detailed assessment of trees along the routes.
Draft Preferred Route Option Reports have been prepared for each CBC detailing the development of each corridor from the Emerging Preferred Route through to the draft Preferred Route Option. These draft “Preferred Route Option Reports” are being published as part of the public consultation and will be finalised following this third round of public consultation and the inclusion of feedback received. These draft reports are available to view and download on the website www.busconnects.ie.
As part of the intended planning application for each corridor, the NTA will be preparing an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) in accordance with current Irish and European legislation. This document will identify the anticipated environmental effects of the scheme during both the construction and operational stages. This assessment is being undertaken by environmental specialists on behalf of the NTA. As part of this assessment, these specialists are undertaking studies of the current condition of the receiving environment within the identified corridor extents. This involves a combination of on-site surveys and desktop study of existing records. At the time of this public consultation, various surveys and studies are underway. The information collected will also be shared with the technical designers for consideration in the design decision making process for the infrastructure works.
Further details of the environmental assessment approach for each scheme are outlined in an individual corridor document called“Information on the Proposed Approach to Environmental Assessment”. This document gives a more in-depth description of the determination of the extents of anticipated impacts and how the cumulative impacts of adjacent core bus corridors and other construction projects will be assessed. These draft reports are available to view and download on the website www.busconnects.ie.
The transport assessment of the core bus corridor proposals is focussed on the “movement of people” rather than, solely, the “movement of vehicles”. In order to adequately determine the impact on public transport, active modes (walking and cycling), and general traffic, a comprehensive suite of transport models have been developed.
An extensive set of traffic counts were undertaken in late 2019 and early 2020 and this data, along with other sources, has been used to calibrate and validate the models to assist in the evaluation of the core bus corridors. On a strategic level, the Eastern Regional Model has been used to forecast the modal split for future years. At a more refined level, a Local Area Model has been developed to examine the potential displacement of traffic. In addition, detailed modelling is ongoing in terms of junction and corridor analysis tests and to quantify the effect on the movement of people through each junction and along the corridor itself.
Each EIAR will contain a section on the potential traffic and transport impacts associated with the construction and operational phases of the core bus corridors. This assessment will be informed by the following reports:
A draft, work-in-progress version of the “Transport Modelling Reports” for each core bus corridor, together with a summary of the work-in-progress strategic modelling results to-date, are being published as part of the public consultation and will be finalised following this third round of public consultation and the inclusion of feedback received. These draft reports are available to view and download on the website www.busconnects.ie.
In tandem with the technical design work on finalising the road alignment in the urban cross sections across the core bus corridors, planning has also progressed for refining the Urban Realm design proposals. These designs are being developed in consultation with the local authorities to ensure tie-in to existing schemes and initiatives. The NTA is focusing on finishing the layout of spaces, considering desire lines (how people want to move through spaces) and the placement of urban furniture (trees, bins, bollards, benches, bike stands, railings, etc.)
Urban Realm improvement opportunities along the routes present themselves through the civil/physical works needed to reach the BusConnects objective to provide bus priority, along with improved cycling and pedestrian facilities. All put together, the core bus corridors provide an opportunity for lots of continuous interventions that, together, can give a general citywide lift.
The Urban Realm improvement opportunities are spread out along the core bus corridors and need to respond to and reflect specific locality and context. In the design of the urban spaces we will be using appropriate materials and urban furniture that comply with standards for use, durability and maintenance as well as carbon footprint considerations.
Further details of the urban realm design approach can be found in a document called “BusConnects Urban Realm Concept Design” published as part of the public consultation. This document is available to view and download on the website www.busconnects.ie.
In tandem with the technical design work the designers will be starting the work of preparing the various maps and schedules of areas that are proposed to be acquired under the statutory compulsory purchase order process (CPO). The attached Maps in this brochure indicate Proposed New Boundaries (Possible Land Acquisition) represented by broken red lines. These boundaries are indicative of potential areas for permanent CPO, and are not yet finalised. As detailed plots are finalised the designers will be continuing to seek to meet those with an interest in the impacted areas.
In some cases there may also be a need to realign driveways and/or redo the landscaping of property front gardens, or reorganise business accesses and/or loading areas. Some of these works may be outside the permanent CPO area, and consequently there may be a need to put in place temporary arrangements to ensure access during construction to carry out necessary accommodation works. Similar to the permanent CPO development, the designers will be continuing to seek to meet those with an interest in the impacted areas.
Each corridor upgrade will take approximately 2 years to complete.
This brochure provides details of the proposed Preferred Route Option for this core bus corridor. These proposals are subject to a second non-statutory round of public consultation, and subsequent design refinement and environmental impact assessment, before a formal statutory application will be made by the NTA to An Bord Pleanála for approval
The project website www.busconnects.ie has a dedicated section for the Core Bus Corridor project. All previous emerging preferred route brochures are available on the website. Users can access the site to find out more about the project and download copies of the key documents.
We are inviting submissions in relation to the Preferred Route Options set out in this document. The closing date for submissions is stated on the website.
Written submissions and observations may be made by:
Following the third round of public consultation the NTA will finalise the Preferred Route Options for all sixteen corridors. The scheme designs will be finalised, transport and environmental impact assessments will be completed. This will culminate in the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) for the scheme together with details of land to be acquired. This will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála in 2021 for its consideration and determination. A formal statutory consultation process will be undertaken as part of that process.
The UCD Ballsbridge to City Centre Core Bus Corridor commences on Fitzwilliam Street at the junction with Mount Street Upper / Merrion Square South / Merrion Square East. It routes along Fitzwilliam Street, turning onto R816 Baggot Street Lower at its junction with Fitzwilliam Street Lower and is then routed along R816 Baggot Street Lower, Baggot Street Upper, Pembroke Road, through its junction with Lansdowne Road, R118 Pembroke Road, through Ballsbridge village and R118 Merrion Road to its junction with Nutley Lane. It travels along Nutley Lane from the R118 Merrion Road to the R138 Stillorgan Road junction where it meets the Bray to City Centre Core Bus Corridor.
The scheme will primarily consist of dedicated bus priority lanes and cycle tracks in both directions where feasible, as well as general traffic lanes.
The following paragraphs will describe each CBC section in more detail, identifying the key design revisions which have been incorporated into the design since the publication of Preferred Route Option (PRO) in March 2020.
The CBC scheme commences at the Junction of Fitzwilliam Street with Mount Street Upper / Merrion Square South / Merrion Square East before turning onto Baggot Street Lower. Along Fitzwilliam Street the proposed cross-section is to provide two bus lanes and two general traffic lanes, together with the introduction of cycle tracks. No land acquisition is required to provide this however, it will be necessary to remove all parking along this section. It is proposed to provide a dedicated right turn bus-only lane from Baggot Street Lower onto Fitzwilliam Street.
Along Baggot Street Lower, it is proposed to provide a bus lane, a general traffic lane, a cycle track, and a footpath in each direction. The existing median along Baggot Street Lower is to be retained. Some recessed parking bays are proposed on both sides of the road where space permits. As part of the design development a new signalised pedestrian crossing has been included on Baggot Street Lower.
At the MacCarthy Bridge (Baggot Street Bridge), where Baggot Street Lower meets Baggot Street Upper, it is proposed to widen the existing footpaths, introduce cycle tracks on both sides, and reduce the number of lanes to one general traffic lane in each direction crossing the bridge. The reduction to one general traffic lane in each direction on the bridge allows for the provision of minimum standard widths for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the canal.
At Baggot Street Upper on the inbound approach to Mespil Road, it is proposed to reduce the number of lanes at the junction from 4 to 2. Signal controlled priority will be installed approaching the Mespil Road junction, where buses will be facilitated to cross the bridge in front of other traffic. A similar facility will be provided for buses travelling outbound from Baggot Street Lower to Upper. In order to optimise the operation of this arrangement, left and right turn bans are proposed from Herbert Place and Wilton Terrace respectively onto Baggot Street Bridge and from Mespil Road onto Baggot Street Upper.
Along Baggot Street Upper, it is intended to reduce the width of the existing carriageway. This can be facilitated through the installation of a Bus Gate at the western end of Pembroke Road with a short section of bus lane between the Waterloo Road and Eastmoreland Place junctions. Eastbound general traffic on Baggot Street Upper will not be permitted to access Pembroke Road and vice versa for westbound traffic on Pembroke Road. As a result of this, the general traffic movement of right-turning vehicles from Baggot Street Upper to Waterloo Road can be accommodated in a single right turn lane, permitting the removal of the existing straight ahead lane towards Pembroke Road. The proposal includes providing dedicated cycle tracks through the village while improving the public realm. Some loading and parking will be retained in the Baggot Street Upper village centre.
A bus gate is proposed on Pembroke Road, between the junctions with Waterloo Road and Eastmoreland Place. This bus gate will ensure that the only local traffic will be on Pembroke Road with a destination on or close to Pembroke Road, as well as through-buses and authorised vehicles. This removes the need for four traffic lanes including dedicated bus lanes along this section of Pembroke Road as buses will not be delayed by queuing traffic. The additional space means that existing trees along Pembroke will be retained while new cycle tracks are proposed on both sides. A quantum of on-street parking is also proposed to be retained. The existing footpath width along this section of the route will also be retained and/or widened where the space allows.
There will be no land acquisition required along this section of the route under these proposals.
Between Northumberland Road and Sandymount Avenue, it is proposed to provide a dedicated bus lane, cycle track, as well as general traffic lanes in each direction.
On Pembroke Road, from Northumberland Road to Elgin Road, it is proposed to reduce the width of the cycle track to 1.5m in places and it is also proposed to reduce the length of the right-turn lane from Pembroke Road onto Lansdowne Road. This will result in the retention of a number of existing trees along this section of Pembroke Road.
At the Ballsbridge junction of Shelbourne Road, Herbert Park Road and Elgin Road, it is proposed to introduce a left-turn only entry into Elgin Road from Ballsbridge. At this junction, the Herbert Park arm has been realigned in order to minimise the impact on adjacent properties and to retain a number of existing trees to the east of the junction.
On the eastern side of the Dodder River, it is proposed to provide a two-way cycle track from Anglesea Road to Beatty’s Avenue connected by a Toucan crossing on the R118. This will form part of the Dodder Greenway.
Entry to Ballsbridge Avenue is proposed to be located at the current exit while a new exit to the north is proposed recognising that Ballsbridge Park is a private road. This will remove the requirement for vehicles to turn right into Beatty’s Avenue from the R118. The left slip road from Merrion Road to Anglesea Road is proposed to be removed with vehicular access to the City of Dublin Educational and Training Board (CDETB) to be relocated onto Anglesea Road. The access into the CDETB premises has been amended in order to minimise the impact on historic railings.
Merrion Road from Sandymount Avenue to Nutley Lane is sub-divided into three sections by its main junctions with Shrewsbury Road and Ailesbury Road.
The section between Sandymount Avenue and Shrewsbury Road is proposed as a 4-lane carriageway with a bus lane and general traffic lane in each direction. There are a number of mature trees located along the footway on this section of road and the proposed layout seeks to maximise the number of trees to be retained.
In order to retain as many trees as possible a small section of land acquisition is proposed within the grounds of the Clayton Hotel to accommodate a new footpath and cycle lane proposed.
Also, along this section, it is proposed to reduce the footpath and cycle track widths locally as they pass existing trees to minimise impacts. This will locally reduce footpaths to a minimum width of 1.2m and cycle tracks to a minimum width of 1.4m over the short length of the pinch points.
Between Shrewsbury Road and Ailesbury Road, it is proposed to provide a 3-lane carriageway along its length with a footpath and cycle track in each direction. The carriageway will comprise 2 general traffic lanes and one bus lane. The direction in which the bus lanes travel will swap in the vicinity of Wanderers Rugby Football Club (WFC). From WFC to Shrewsbury Road an inbound bus lane will be provided while from WRC to Ailesbury Road, an outbound bus lane is proposed. This will permit a number of existing trees to be retained and avoids the requirement for acquisition of land from the properties adjacent to the Dutch Embassy.
The proposed cross section reverts to 4-lanes between Ailesbury Road and Nutley Lane. This will require land acquisition as previously identified with the exception of St. Michaels College, where land acquisition would no longer be required. At Merrion View Avenue, the existing gate accessing a residential laneway has been retained in its existing location, which was proposed to be relocated previously.
On approach to Nutley Lane, it is proposed to remove the splitter island between the bus lane and the straight-ahead general traffic lane and provide signal control priority at the pedestrian crossing between Ailesbury Road and Nutley Lane. This will permit buses accessing Nutley Lane to move into the right-turn general traffic lane ahead of general traffic. This in turn permits a continuous bus lane and cycle lane along Merrion Road southbound through the junction.
It is proposed to maintain two-way general traffic on Nutley Lane.
From St. Vincent’s Hospital Access to Nutley Park, it is proposed that 4 lanes will be provided on the carriageway, a bus lane and a general traffic lane in each direction. A two-way 3.0m wide cycle track is proposed on the Elm Park side of the Road, from St. Vincent’s to Nutley Park. A toucan crossing is proposed at the St. Vincent’s junction to connect the proposed two-way cycle track to the single cycle track to the north, and at Nutley Park. No footpath is proposed on the Elm Park Golf Club side of the road over this section from just south of the St. Vincent’s junction to the Golf Club entrance. A pedestrian crossing is provided at the St. Vincent’s junction and the Golf Club entrance. The existing footpath on the north-western side of the road is proposed to be retained, permitting the trees on this side of the road to also be retained.
From Nutley Road to the Stillorgan Road, it is proposed to retain this overall cross section, aside from the reintroduction of the footpath on the south east side just north of the Elm Park Golf Club entrance.
It is proposed that the two-way cycle track will continue past the entrance to Elm Park Golf Club before crossing onto the RTE side via a toucan crossing just north of Nutley Park. The two-way cycle track will then continue on the RTE side to tie in with the proposals for the R138 Junction. This proposal requires land acquisition from the properties currently occupied by RTE and Eir.
Part of the overall BusConnects Programme is to create 16 radial core bus corridors (CBC). A CBC is an existing road with bus priority so that buses can operate efficiently, reliably and punctually. This generally means full length dedicated bus lanes on both sides of the road from start to finish of each corridor or other measures to ensure that buses are not delayed in general traffic congestion. The bus lanes will be alongside segregated cycle lanes/tracks where feasible and general traffic.
A segregated cycle track is a separate section of the road dedicated for cycling only. This space will generally be isolated from other vehicular traffic by a physical kerb. Where is it not physically possible to have segregated cycle tracks there will be the option of quiet roads and shared cycling on reduced speed roads for cyclists.
The NTA published outline plans for each of the 16 CBCs in a non-statutory public consultation process in 2018/2019. The options were called Emerging Preferred Routes (EPR), in some cases with multiple sub-options, to inform the public of the likely layout of the roadway with the necessary CBC infrastructure in place. They included possible impacts on front gardens, and likely changes to how traffic will operate to facilitate bus priority.
Following consideration of the public submissions about the 16 EPR’s, the core bus corridor proposals have been reviewed and amended. They are now being presented as the Preferred Route Option (PRO) and are subject to a further round of non-statutory public consultation. They are not final proposals as they are subject to further consideration from this round of public consultation and also subsequent examination in the context of environmental impact assessment.
A Bus Gate is a sign-posted short length of stand-alone bus lane. This short length of road is restricted exclusively to buses, taxis and cyclists plus emergency vehicles. It facilitates bus priority by removing general through traffic along the overall road where the bus gate is located. General traffic will be directed by signage to divert away to other roads before they arrive at the bus gate. To see an animation of a how a Bus Gate will work, please visit our website www.busconnects.ie.