Mr. Owen Keegan:

I thank the Chairman. Dublin City Council, DCC, welcomes the opportunity to address the committee on the issue of traffic congestion at College Green. Since the launch of Luas Cross City, LCC, on 9 December 2017, there has been significant congestion at College Green which has impacted adversely on the journey times of buses and taxis travelling between O'Connell Street and Nassau Street and on roads that access this corridor, especially during the morning peak traffic period. In addition, during the initial weeks of LCC operation, in an effort to keep traffic moving, pedestrian priority at College Green was greatly reduced with the result that average pedestrian waiting times more than doubled.

The impact of the introduction of LCC on bus journey times for southbound buses travelling through College Green, that is, between O’Connell Street and Nassau Street, is set out in the paper submitted to the committee. If one takes the worst hour, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., we estimate that before the introduction of LCC that journey would have taken ten minutes on average but after its introduction the same journey was taking 23 minutes.

It is important to note that major traffic management changes were implemented in the city centre area by DCC prior to the launch of LCC on 9 December 2017 to facilitate its operation. These changes included the introduction of double bus lanes on stretches of the north and south quays, a ban on general traffic turning right from the north quays onto O’Connell Bridge and a range of junction and traffic signal changes. These changes had a positive impact on bus and taxi journey times.

It was always recognised by the council that College Green, which has only one lane in each direction, would not be able to accommodate the same number of buses and taxis following the introduction on LCC. In order to address this issue, the council developed a separate proposal for a new civic plaza at College Green, which provides for the elimination of all traffic through College Green on an east-west axis. Under the proposal, the current complex sequence of traffic signals would be replaced with a single pedestrian crossing from the front entrance of Trinity College across to the new plaza. The plaza proposal would have allowed taxis to use the high quality north-south public transport corridor. In my paper I have given an example of the conflicting traffic movements on College Green that are the cause of the congestion problems. The council is of the view that the plaza proposal, with the elimination of east-west traffic, removes those traffic conflicts. The council is satisfied that the benefits of the plaza as a civic amenity for pedestrians and in terms of greatly improved bus, tram and taxi traffic flow on a north-south axis through College Green due to the elimination of conflicting traffic movements will far outweigh any negative impacts on those bus and taxi services which will have to divert as a consequence of the elimination of east–west axis traffic through College Green.

The College Green plaza proposal, including the associated traffic management arrangements, was submitted to An Bord Pleanála in May 2016. It had been anticipated that a decision on the proposal would have been made in advance of the opening of LCC. This would have allowed DCC to implement the required traffic management arrangements. Unfortunately, there have been delays in the planning process for the civic plaza development. I have included for member's information a detailed timeline of the planning process. In deference to the separate statutory procedure for the civic plaza proposal and mindful of the threat of legal proceedings from a city centre business group, DCC and the NTA held off making any other traffic changes pending progress on the plaza application. An oral hearing on the application, which had been scheduled for 9 January 2018 was postponed on 4 January 2018. Following this postponement, DCC and the NTA agreed to initiate measures to reduce the volume of traffic travelling through College Green in order to reduce the level of congestion and improve traffic flow.

On Monday 29 January 2018, eight bus routes, which previously travelled through College Green and College Street but did not stop there were re-routed and a further nine Xpresso routes were also re-routed away from that area. The combined effect of these changes has been to reduce the aforementioned 23-minute delay in the worst hour to a 16-minute delay, a significant improvement. While these measures have reduced journey times in the morning peak, it is very clear that a further reduction in the number of vehicles travelling through College Green is required, particularly given the need to accommodate higher frequency and longer LCC services. Following further consultation between DCC, the NTA and Dublin Bus it has been agreed that an additional ten bus services will be re-routed away from College Green, effective from Monday, 5 March. Those measures will be evaluated and if required, DCC will implement further measures in consultation with the relevant parties.