Submission to NTA Consultation on Greater Dublin AreaTransport Strategy 2022-2042

The inclusion of Greystones in the DART+ is welcomed and also the Bus priority on the N11 to the Glenview Junction and the Park n’ Rides locations. These will help persuade people to use Public Transport. Also the longer term commitments to the LUAS to Bray though this should be advanced.

8. Planning for Sustainable Transport

There needs to be a greater dispersion of jobs to the periphery of the Metropolitan Region in order to reduce commuting demand. The expansion of the GDA population has mainly taken place on the periphery including Greystones. Yet the jobs ratio (% of local employment to total) in Greystones is the lowest in Leinster. More jobs to support the major population growth is needed for sustainability. This is the largest Infrastructural deficit in the town. Yet TII and the Office of Planning Regulator instruct the Council to delete commercially zoned land at the Willow Grove & Newtown N11 junctions. This zoning did not allow retail and was to provide for HGV based operations as people don’t want the HGVs in the middle of towns. These zonings should be encouraged, virtually all M50 junctions in Co. Dublin have a major Shopping Centre or commercial estate, and commuting to them should be discouraged by providing jobs further out. TII & the OPR policies are centralising jobs, creating more commuting.

15 Minute City

This concept allocates more road space to cycling & walking, short distance means of transport. However the closes in areas have not expanded population but the peripheral areas have. These are outside the 15 minute city. Longer distance buses must be given priority over the short distance transport methods in the central area.

12. Public Transport

Journey times need to be included in planning transport. If times are too long people will use cars. Dublin to Arklow by rail, 108 minutes, takes nearly as long as to Belfast, 125 minutes. Arklow is in the Metropolitan area while Belfast is well outside it. The Aircoach 702 from Greystones (in the Metropolitan Area) takes 83 minutes, Belfast 705 110 minutes, GDA journey times need to be speeded up. A map of journey times (replacing distance) should be included to focus on it.

Bus

The Bus Corridors, Chart 12.1, do not show a link from the N11 to the Airport/Port Tunnel, this needs to be provided in a direct manner to cut down the above journey times. This is much more serious now that the Eastern by Pass is apparently cancelled as this would have provided it. A route to the proposed Southern Port access bridge should be provided from the M50 or N11 for Public Transport from the South East.

Bus Corridors on the N11 to the Glenview junction are welcome as are the Park n’ Rides.  Bus routes to use them are not identified. Direct buses are needed from Greystones/Wicklow to Cherrywood, Sandyford and West Dublin where many people from the area are employed. These should use the Willow Grove junction or possibly the 84x route to the N11 to avoid heavy traffic.

13. Roads

A number of Roads policies seem to imply that National Primary routes are not for local Wicklow traffic. The N11 is not just a road to get from Dublin to Rosslare, it is to provide for traffic generated in Wicklow and between Wicklow places. This especially is the case where as an N, rather than an M road, there is no alternative route. The only alternative route in the Greystones area is the R761 road which is overcrowded, has many residential properties, pedestrians, cyclists and is not very suitable for HGVs. TII and the OPR, see above, seem to be trying to force traffic including HGVs back onto the R761 by instructing cancellation of Industrial zonings and deletion of connecting road reservations to get HGVs from Kilcoole to the N11. This road reservation and the connection of Greystones to the Glenview junction should be left in as once omitted they could be built on.

I am concerned that the Eastern By pass omission inhibits access to the airport by buses and access to the Port by HGVs. The M50 will more congested especially as the Outer Orbital Route appears cancelled. As mentioned above access is needed for buses and HGVs from the N11 to the new South Port Access.