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Transport
Transport Infrastructure Ireland are managing the study of the N11 enhancements and gave a presentation to the Council’s Transport Committee. Cllr. Derek Mitchell, Chairman of the committee said ‘I am disappointed that the study has not been redirected to study rail enhancements to reduce car usage. They are studying some bus lane issues but the rail line is virtually empty at rush hour. A proper study of these alternatives should show that the scale of N11 enhancement could be much reduced if more people used the bus & train. Providing…
I welcome the announcement that Public Transport improvements, including Bus Priority and Park n’ Ride are being considered. This will include an examination of interim options and hopefully will reduce the scale of the N11 works. This is being done by The National Transport Authority with the Council. Myself and many Councillors have been pushing for this to be done but I was not aware it was underway. It does not mention the rail line which is virtually empty at rush hour with the least number of trains of any…
Fianna Fail also opposed making development dependent on better transport. The Green Party opposed ‘improving the South East rail line’ in the Regional Planning Guidelines. I asked the Minister for Environment to override this and he has now altered the wording to ‘improve’ rail. Now the Green leader Eamonn Ryan says he will shelve upgrade plans for the N11. In April 2015 I proposed that Rezoning in Wicklow should not take place unless Public Transport and the N11 had been improved. The Green Party & Fianna Fail voted against that…
The Green Party proposal to cancel the N11 upgrade and convert 1 lane to a Bus Lane will cause total chaos in Wicklow. Speaking to Eamonn Ryan, Leader of the Green Party, on East Coast Radio I was surprised to hear that he wants to reduce the car lanes on the already jammed N11. It is essential that the bus lane is EXTRA to the existing 2 lanes South of Kilmacanoge and there must be many Express Buses. North of Kilmacanoge there may well need to be 3 car lanes….
The Minister for Planning & Local Government has instructed the Eastern & Midland Regional Authority to amend its recently adopted Regional Plan to 2031 on transport matters. I welcome this direction as the changes to the Plan make it more likely that the DART as far South as Greystones will be improved and that the LUAS to Bray, Finglas, Lucan & Poolbeg will be properly planned & designed. I wrote to the Minister some months ago seeking this change. I voted against the changes which were proposed to the Transport Strategy but…
The internal traffic & parking is getting very congested in Greystones. The next Development plan review is due to be started soon and I am keen that the traffic issues & solutions are studied before the Plan is made as it is long overdue. I put in a motion at the last meeting and Council officials have now agreed to get a study done
I wrote a paper in 2018 on how to increase the frequency on the single track from 30 to every 20 minutes. This was based on partially double tracking the line, without the need for an expensive tunnel through Bray Head. This was ignored by Irish Rail but the NTA asked Jacobs Engineering to study how to do this. I received their report in May and they consider the idea is feasible, as is a 20 minute service and a quicker journey time. This is subject to some further analysis…
Greystones, population 20,000, is probably the largest town in Ireland without any public charging points. They were to be installed a few years ago but by the time Bord Pleanala had decided the objection was valid the scheme was finished and it was too late to move to a different site. A scheme to upgrade the ones in other towns will not cover Greystones, if you don’t have it, you cant get it, A Catch 22 situation! I have written to Minister Bruton and asked for this to be sorted…
Photo shows Cllr Derek Mitchell asking Minister for Environment Eoghan Murphy for funds. The Delgany to Blacklion Road upgrade is badly needed, with four large schools on it, and has been planned for 30 years. I have been frustrated trying to get it moving for a decade and brought this up with the Minister at the recent Fine Gael Ard Feis.
