Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for her question regarding the Phoenix Park. She mentioned Fingal County Council and I was there yesterday launching its biodiversity plan. The county council has done fantastic work and great credit to them.

As the Senator will be aware as a regular visitor to the park, recent years have seen a significant increase in recreational visitors. The OPW faces a difficult challenge in balancing the need of all visitors and users of the park with differing requirements while also providing vehicular access to the various institutions within the Phoenix Park, including Dublin Zoo, An Garda Síochána, Áras an Uachtaráin and St. Mary’s Hospital, etc.

The Transport and Mobility Options Study Post-Consultation Report was published in July 2021, as the Senator knows. The report sets out a series of recommendations for how park visitors will access, experience and move within the Phoenix Park while protecting the public and park environment. It made a number of recommendations to reduce commuter traffic and speed, to increase the cycling and pedestrian opportunities and to improve limited public transport. It also took into account the diverse and complex functions that the park serves, including its historic landscape, biodiversity habitats, visitor attractions and recreational spaces, along with its significant institutions and places of work. There was an extensive public consultation process, which resulted in more than 2,200 submissions.

The OPW has been actively progressing the various elements of the Phoenix Park Transport and Mobility Options Study Post-Consultation Report, published in June 2021. Within the study, five common themes emerged as follows: walking and cycling, access, gates and roads, public transport, movement within the park and public consultation - I think hat is general ongoing consultation. The study proposed that the recommendations would be undertaken in three phases over the seven years following the publishing of the study.I am happy to announce that the OPW has already embarked on and completed several of the projects arising from the transport and mobility study. In the two years since publishing the study, the OPW has completed the upgrade of 9 km of footpaths and cycle lanes in the Phoenix Park, allowing for greater mobility and access across the park. It is also working with partners in Dublin City Council and the NTA on the design and roll-out of 8 km of permanent one-directional cycle lanes along both sides of Chesterfield Avenue, linking Castleknock to the city. Again, further updates will be provided in due course.

Thanks to the significant collaboration between the NTA and the OPW, the new 99 bus route, which the Senator referred to, has been operating successfully within the Phoenix Park since 5 October this year, although I note the points the Senator has raised in that regard. This was a key project to be delivered as part of the study. This new route links Heuston Station with the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. There are a number of stops along the route at key destinations such as Dublin Zoo and Áras an Uachtaráin. I hope that, if there is sufficient demand, further expansion can be explored. The Senator mentioned Blanchardstown, Lucan and Finglas in that regard. That might be worth considering.

Another key project identified in the study was the creation of a one-way system on the North Road between Cabra Gate and Garda Headquarters. Following a successful nine-month pilot study, this arrangement has now been made permanent and has allowed for a two-way cycle lane along this section of road. Likewise, the pilot cul-de-sac on the Upper Glen Road is also now operating on a permanent basis. The OPW has also introduced a 30 km per hour speed limit, which became operational in early 2022. There are signs and road markings advising motorists of the speed limit on entry to the park and at key locations throughout.

With regard to cycling infrastructure, I am pleased to say that the number of bicycle parking spaces in the Phoenix Park has doubled from 120 to over 240 in the last 12 months. The OPW will continue to add further cycling infrastructure in the coming months and years. It is dedicated to increasing the number of people who visit the park by active travel means. The location of the additional stands is based on consultation with the cycling community and ensuring sufficient provision in busy areas of the park.

The OPW has also begun the process of increasing the number of accessible parking spaces within the Phoenix Park. Just this week, it installed the first age-friendly car parking spaces in the newly reconstructed car park at Knockmaroon. It is the intention to have 5% of all car parking spaces within the park dedicated as accessible parking and a further 5% dedicated as age-friendly car spaces. I will come back to the other points raised in my closing remarks.