Changes to how cars travel round Dublin city centre come into effect
However, the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) said the measures introduced as part of the plan are causing problems for its members and called for an exemption for those with accessible parking permits.
From this morning, the left turn from Westland Row to Pearse Street is now restricted to public transport and cyclists only.
Private vehicles can instead turn right onto a new two-way system between Pearse Street and Sandwith Street Lower.
Senior Executive engineer with Dublin City Council's Transport Department Claire French said the measures will help prepare for future transport projects.
"This is to prioritise public transport in the area," she said.
"We've reduced the amount of cars in the core of the city centre by 6,000 a day."
"Westland Row is going to become more important as BusConnects rolls out.
"We also want to reassign some of the space on Pearse Street for walking and cycling and for greening and then we have other projects like DART Plus and Metro North, which are further down the line, but are going to introduce a lot more pedestrians into the Pearse Street, Tara Street area.
"So we want to prepare for that."
She said the Transport Plan has already reduced private car traffic and improved public transport times in the city centre
"We've reduced the amount of cars in the core of the city centre by 6,000 a day.
"We've increased the number of buses. Footfall figures are up.
"So we've met our initial objectives and we hope this is a continuation of this as we move through the plan."
IWA calls for exemption for accessible parking permit holders
However, the restriction on private vehicles is causing difficulties for the IWA's members, it said.
IWA National Advocacy Manager Joan Carthy has called for accessible parking permit holders to be exempt from the measures.
"The big problem is the parking spaces and how we actually manage to access them," she said.
"Before we had been told that spaces wouldn't be moved or removed and then after the launch that changed.
"What's happening is we're being pushed further and further away from being able to use Dublin city independently and public transport doesn't work for people with disabilities."
A consultation period is now underway for the next phase of the Dublin City Transport Plan which will see the pedestrianisation of Parliament Street.
When that measure comes into effect in late June it will be the third significant change to how private cars access the city centre in less than a year.
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