Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed plans which I enthusiastically support.

This proposal is a critical component of Dublin’s green transition, knitting together the BusConnects Core Bus Corridors and the Dublin City Active Travel Network, and drastically improving pedestrian and cyclist mobility in the city centre. Given the importance of this project, it is vital that care and attention to detail be at the core of the design process. In particular, a holistic “public realm” approach should be taken, wherein streets’ roles as sites of socialisation, aesthetic enjoyment, and ecological flourishing are considered alongside their transport functions.

This requires the use of multi-disciplinary teams and I trust that ecologists, landscape architects, planners, conservationists and public realm specialists as well as engineers are retained for the project.  I hope my comments below can contribute to the success of such efforts.

• High quality public realm design should be integrated into active travel upgrades from the outset. Public support for such schemes would be greatly improved by clear evidence that significant improvements to the aesthetic, social, and environmental amenities provided by Dublin streets will follow. Explicit parallels should be drawn to existing successes on Capel Street and Suffolk Street.
• In particular, large homogenous expanses of stone pavements as featured in visualisations for upgrades to college green and temple bar should be avoided. Devoting space to greenery and sustainable urban drainage systems in these spaces will improve the aesthetic and ecological quality of urban spaces. The recent landscaping works to the ‘Avenue Ansbach’ in Brussels that feature the use of Kilkenny limestone and high quality planting and public seating are worthy of inspection.
• Presented with a choice of creating either a new “Liberty Place” around the James Connolly memorial or a pedestrianised Custom House Quay, the former option is preferable. Whereas those traveling East-West are inclined to rely on their cars or the Luas, North-South pedestrian traffic between the Red Line and Tara Street makes Liberty Place a natural resting point. The Liberty Place proposal would also reduce traffic conflicts between cars and the Luas at this point, making public transport more efficient. Furthermore, the existing wide footpaths along Custom House Quay already provide amenity value which is lacking elsewhere.
• Similarly, the nearby entrances to the National Gallery and Trinity College make Lincoln Place a more natural location for a public space than Merrion Street Lower.
• Temporary signage for car commuters showing the new routes around the city, and liaison with online map providers to ensure new traffic routes are clearly indicated.
• General arrangement drawings appear to show a bus stop on the wrong side of Clare Street, which is one-way. This stop would also interrupt the contra-flow cycle lane, which is to be avoided in any case. 
• A two-way cycle lane on the East side of Tara Street would prevent conflicts with Northbound buses.
• The proposals to improve Christchurch Place are particularly sorely needed. The staggered crossings which remain in the proposals should be removed in favour of longer green light pedestrian crossing intervals. 
• Public realm improvements throughout the scheme should leave sufficient room to accommodate the further addition of Sheffield bike stands at a future date as cycling traffic in Dublin increases. 

Thank you for taking these comments into consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Ciarán Cuffe

MEP for Dublin

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Submitted online at: https://consultation.dublincity.ie/traffic-and-transport/draft-dublin-city-centre-transport-plan/