East Wall Neighbourhood Traffic Scheme – Update (June 2020)

Earlier this month, I sought an update from the Transportation Department of Dublin City Council on the Neighbourhood Traffic Scheme in East Wall. I am very eager to get this initiative advanced because I strongly believe the potential in utilising this type of initiative to help better utilise the limited public space within our residential neighbourhoods in our city.

The Council’s Transportation Department intends establishing a number of meetings with Councillors with a view to explore the various options to improve road safety, reduce illegal parking, cut down on rat-running and enhance the environment for all East Wallers. I want to see these meetings set up and in place as quickly as possible.

What does concern me, however, is that the Transportation Department appear to want to examine traffic patterns in East Wall and nearby areas after society and our economy re-opens. I do not believe East Wall can actually wait until….I don’t know when! As Rahm Emmanuel said, ‘do not waste a good crisis”. Now is the time to advance this work and put in place the measures with the consent of East Wall residents and households that will finally address the challenges that been occurring in recent years.

In pursuing this matter once again, I can confirm that a formal consultation process involving the local community will be established and I expect that to be finalised when Councillors meet with Transportation Engineers and officials. I will report further on this across the coming weeks.

FORMAL REPLY provided to me at the June Dublin Central Area Committee:

A Neighbourhood Transport Scheme Preliminary Phase 3 report for the East Wall Area was sent to all Central Area Councillors on the 17th February 2020. The purpose of this Report is to outline the potential solutions available to alleviate the transport issues in the East Wall Area. In the report, it is proposed that Councillors will be given time to digest the potential solutions, to discuss them with local residents and businesses and to gauge their support.

As proposed by ourselves, we first envisage holding a workshop with Councillors to get their feedback on the Preliminary Phase 3 Report. Councillors can then advise which avenues they wish to pursue in terms of providing a solution to the local residents and businesses. We had previously made contact with the Area Office to arrange this workshop but due to Covid-19 restrictions we had to cancel our plans. As a result, we cannot yet set a date for this workshop until restrictions are lifted. However, we are exploring alternative options to proceed with a workshop such as through an online videoconference. Following this workshop, and depending on the agreed solution(s), a consultation process with the residents of East Wall can then be carried out when detailed designs of the solution(s) have been developed.

The East Wall is a relatively complex area as it has multiple entries/exits into the estate, a bus route runs through the estate, and the area has a number of commercial premises that require access. Therefore, developing detailed designs of the solution(s) for the East Wall Area will likely require a considerable level of analysis of the potential options when travel patterns return to normal following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.

Notwithstanding this, any specific requests for traffic measures at specific locations in the East Wall Area are welcome and can be submitted to the website: https://www.dublincity.ie/traffic-service-request-councillor.