Latest news with #buscorridors
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Final BusConnects corridor secures planning permission
The final BusConnects corridor has been approved by An Bord Pleanála almost two years after the application was made and more than 10 years on from the project being announced. The Kimmage to Dublin city centre route is the last of 12 corridors to receive permission under the €4 billion scheme to transform the capital's bus services. However, six routes remain the subject of judicial review proceedings. The BusConnects programme has two strands: a network redesign and the 12 bus corridors. Unlike the redesign project, which involves the reorganisation of services on existing road infrastructure, the corridors require construction to achieve segregation of bus and cycle lanes from traffic. READ MORE This, in some instances, necessitates road widening, the acquisition of property, including parts of front gardens, and the felling of trees. The route from Kimmage in southwest Dublin to the city centre, via Harold's Cross and Clanbrassil Street, is one of the shorter corridors at just 3.7km, but it has been the longest in the planning system. A complex route, it involved the design of four 'bus gates', two of which ban private traffic on a 24-hour basis, while the others are to be in force during morning and evening peak times. [ BusConnects corridor construction to begin in autumn Opens in new window ] The bus-only sections of road, which will involve diversions for private traffic, were introduced to the designs following local protests over the original scheme, which involved significant annexing of parts of front gardens and the felling of a large number of trees. The scheme, which now involves reduced property acquisition and tree removal, includes two new footbridges over the Grand Canal in Portobello and a pedestrian/cyclist boardwalk over the river Poddle in Kimmage. The route was the subject of three rounds of public consultation before the application was made by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in July 2023. More than 80 submissions were made to the board after the application was lodged, and while several were supportive, many residents objected to the traffic diversions that would be imposed through the use of bus gates. Of the 12 corridors, five now have 'full' planning permission and can no longer be challenged in the courts. These are the routes from Ballymun/Finglas, Liffey Valley, Ringsend, Tallaght/Clondalkin and Lucan. Judicial review proceedings are ongoing in relation to six schemes, these are the corridors from Clongriffin, Belfield/Blackrock, Blanchardstown, Templeogue/Rathfarnham Swords and Bray. It remains to be seen if legal action will be taken against the Kimmage scheme. Construction of the first two corridors had been due to start this autumn, but the NTA now says it expects to be in a position to move forward at an earlier stage. Work is due to start on the Ballymun/Finglas and Liffey Valley routes by the middle of the year. Each route is expected to take about two years to complete. 'Reaching this milestone on the BusConnects infrastructure programme is a very positive development,' a NTA spokesman said. 'It's good news for bus customers, good news for communities and good news for the city. It is also welcome from the cyclists point of view, with 200km of cycle tracks to be delivered across the 12 schemes.' Plans for a system of segregated, continuous bus lanes for Dublin were first announced in 2014. In 2017, the NTA published the potential routes for these core bus corridors – which it hoped to have completed by the end of 2019. The government gave the NTA sanction to seek planning approval for the routes in March 2022 and the first applications were made from mid-2022. The Liffey Valley corridor was the first route to secure planning permission in December 2023.
Irish Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
BusConnects corridor construction to begin in autumn
The construction of bus corridors as part of the BusConnects programme in Dublin is due to begin in the autumn, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said. The first corridors to get under way will be the Liffey Valley to city centre route and the Ballymun/Finglas to city centre scheme. Exact start dates will be announced in the coming months, the NTA has said. The transport body added that it is engaging with affected property owners on 'a one-to-one basis' through the established compulsory purchase order (CPO) process regarding compensation payments. An Bord Pleanála has granted planning approval for 11 of the 12 bus corridors, though a number of them are subject to judicial reviews. The Kimmage to city centre corridor is the only scheme that has yet to be approved by the planning authority. READ MORE Nine properties are expected to be impacted by the Ballymun corridor with 36 parking spaces removed and 30 trees felled. Under the Liffey Valley corridor, 38 properties are expected to be impacted, 49 parking spaces removed and 172 trees felled. BusConnects aims to revamp the bus system in Dublin with commitments to increase the level of services, provide a more coherent network that will eliminate overlapping routes and improve journey times. The plan largely consists of two components – a redesigned network alongside the creation of 230km of dedicated bus corridors, in tandem with 200km of cycle tracks. The redesign of the network involves a new lettering system of bus routes, from A to H, that identifies eight 'spines' through the city, complemented by 12 orbital routes (lettered O, N, S, W) and a number of local (L), city-bound (1-99), peak-only (P) and express services (X). So far, the H, C, G and E spines have been rolled out, along with the N, W and S orbital and other radial and local routes. The construction of all of the corridors could impact more than 700 properties, with more than 3,000 trees potentially felled and 827 parking spaces lost. The NTA has said there will be a comprehensive replanting and landscaping programme aside from the compensation payments affected homeowners are expected to receive. It previously said that all 12 corridors will be completed by 2030. The construction of the corridors will be done on a phased basis 'in order to reduce the traffic impacts that could arise should all 12 be constructed concurrently', according to the authority. A new ticketing system, which will include tap and pay payments, is also due to be introduced under BusConnects, with a contract awarded in 2024 for its design and implementation. Passenger boardings in areas of Dublin where the new BusConnects network has been implemented are up 40 per cent compared to the rest of the network, a recent report published by the NTA said.
