Covid Mobility Measures and Major Walking and Cycling Projects -June 2021

This report combines the two previous weekly Covid Mobility report and the monthly report on major walking and cycling projects. In January 2021, the Covid Mobility team was significantly reduced in number due to engineers being reassigned to the Tag structure, as per the elected member’s request. This in turn has meant a reduced number of measures being implemented. More recently, the Covid mobility team has been assisting the City recovery taskforce to provide additional space and revised traffic arrangements for outdoor dining.

Part A: COVID Mobility Measures Update

Introduction

As the Government restrictions and advice has changed over the last number of months the Covid mobility team have been able to continue work on those interventions that have been designated critical infrastructure.

1.1 Pedestrian Volumes
Dublin City Council (DCC) footfall counters in the city center show footfall in the core city area. Footfall has been climbing steadily and is now 60% higher than it was in early January.

The northside of the city is still showing significantly higher footfall than the South side with footfall on the northside now exceeding pre covid levels.

1.2 Cycling Volumes
Cycling numbers continue to increase, with the weekday totals now around 80% of pre-COVID levels.

1.3 Bus Passenger Numbers
There has been a noticeable increase in bus passenger volumes since the Easter mid-term break and the government announcement for a phased easing of restrictions. Passenger demand currently stands at approximately 45% of pre-Covid volumes.

1.4 General Traffic Volumes
The trend shows a steady increase on traffic volumes crossing the cordon since the start of the year. Traffic volumes are currently approximately 80% of pre-Covid levels.

Implementation of Measures

2.1 Pedestrian Crossings
Design work has begun on a number of pedestrian crossings across the city to begin
installation later in the year.

Mountjoy Pedestrian Crossing
Works at the Mountjoy Square Pedestrian Crossings will be completed and operational shortly. There has been a slight hold up due to the delay (due to Brexit issues) in the delivery of the cable required to complete the work.

2.2 Protected Cycle Facilities and Contra-Flow Cycle Facilities

Griffith Avenue Cycle Route
The new road markings on Griffith Avenue between Swords Road and the entrance to the Charlemont Estate continue to be installed with an expected completion date of early June. This will be followed with the installation of bollards to protect the cycle lanes. The requests for tender for the works at the junction of St Mobhi Road / Ballymun Road / Griffith Avenue junction were issued on May 18th with a closing date for tenders of June 8th. In the meantime, design has commenced on the detailed design for the junction of Swords Road and Griffith Avenue.

Infirmary Road Protected Cycle Lane
Protection of the cycle lanes on Infirmary Road, linking the North Circular Road with Parkgate Street, has been installed. We are trialing a new type of bollard (Tiger Bollard), at this location.

Collins Avenue Extension Cycle Route
Modification works to the pedestrian island at the entrance to DCU on Collin’s Avenue have been complete. This will allow for the installation of protected cycle lanes on both approaches.

2.3 On-Street Cycle Parking
The tenders for Batch 17 have been received and assessed and we are in the process of awarding the contract. Installation is due to commence in late June/early July, 2021.

2.4 Filtered Permeability/Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
A number of traffic calming options are currently being devised for Belmont Avenue,
Donnybrook, Dublin 4. A short public consultation will be run once the options are finalised and it has been presented to the area committee.

2.5 School Mobility Programme
The application list for a School Zone currently stands at 126 Schools. The COVID Mobility Technical Team continue to assess all submissions for suitability and schools are contacted with timelines if it is deemed to be an appropriate intervention at the particular location. To date a total of 44 School Zones have been installed across the city. The breakdown of the School Zones completed per administrative area of Dublin City are, 14 in the South Central Area, 9 in the South East Area, 9 in the Central Area, 7 for the North West Area and 5 in the North Central Area. There are a total of 39 schools, at design stage, subject to final consultation with school Principals and the NTA.

The following School Zones will be installed in the next 6-8 weeks:

• St Catherine’s Ratoath Rd Cabra West, Dublin 7.
• St. Dominic’s College, Ratoath Road, Cabra West, Dublin 7.
• Holy Child National Boys National School, Larkhill Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9.
• Holy Child National Girls National School, Larkhill Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9.
• Georges Hill, PPS, Halston Street, Dublin 7.
• Rutland Street National School, Lower Gloucester Place, Dublin 1.
• Scoil Assaim, All Saints Drive, Clontarf East, Dublin 5.
• Scoil Naí-Íde, All Saints Drive, Clontarf East, Dublin 5.
• Scoil Aine, All Saints Park, Clontarf East,Dublin 5.
• Springdale National School, Lough Derg, Edenmore,Dublin 5.

The School Zone for Scoil Úna Naofa, Scoil Eoin and Coláiste Eoin on Armagh Road was completed in May and is the most extensive School Zone treatment on a single road transforming the landscape from a concrete strip into a safe route to School for the community. The design development of this School Zone has been a collaboration between the School Principals, the Council’s engineers, landscape architects, AECOM consultants and the NTA. There are plans to reinstate more permanent greening of these footpaths. In the meantime the Covid Mobility Team worked with the Parks Department to intersperse the pencils bollards with green planters creating a vista of colour and nature for everyone.

School Zones are more than an installation. The Outreach Officers will continue to support schools and communities to take ownership of these spaces. They will observe the behaviour before and after School Zone installation. With the school community and Green-Schools, they will co design information, resources and lesson plans on the correct use of the space with an emphasis on promoting cycling, scooting and walking to school.

2.6 Cycle & Scooter Parking for Schools & Sports Clubs
Delivery of cycle and scooter parking to 91 schools and sports clubs across the city was completed earlier this month. The allocation for schools is now complete; however, there is still some cycle and scooter parking available for sports clubs. Interested sports clubs can apply online.

City Recovery – Business Support

The Covid Mobility Team are providing considerable resources to assist the City Recovery Programme through the re-allocation of road space to facilitate on-street dining across the City. A number of measures including footpath buildouts, “Zebra” interventions and traffic management changes are currently underway. All applications for outdoor dining are assessed by the Covid Mobility Team to determine the most suitable intervention.

3.1 Footpath Buildouts
Footpath buildouts are being constructed at a number of key locations, and have recently been completed on:
• Drury Street
• Suffolk Street
• Baggot Street (x4)

3.2 New Traffic Arrangements – Merrion Row
Following a non-statutory public consultation, which revealed strong support for outdoor dining, plus a trial of new traffic arrangements on May 15th and 16th, DCC are implementing traffic changes for the summer.

Traffic arrangements on Hume Street and Ely Place have been reversed with no traffic from Stephens Green East using Merrion Row. Traffic from Kildare Street is unaffected but the reduction in traffic volumes allows for footpath extensions on both sides of Merrion Row.

4.0 Grafton Street Area Traffic changes
Following the strong public support and the successful pedestrianisation trials last summer, the following streets or part of, were made traffic free on the 24th May:
• South Anne Street
• Dame Court
• South William Street (Exchequer St to Brown Thomas carpark)
• Drury Street

Communications

5.1 Website
The COVID Mobility webpage, is being updated regularly to keep the general public informed of COVID mobility interventions. As previously advised we will be making more extensive use of the Consultation Hub to provide information on proposed measures.

5.2 DCC Consultation Hub/Citizen Space
Details of schemes on the Consultation Hub at present include:
Griffith Avenue Protected Cycle Track
Members are alerted on a regular basis to any new proposals, which are available to view on the Consultation Hub. The aim is to have a more dynamic process for ensuring that support for projects, suggestions on how to improve them and concerns and issues, which may need to be addressed, can be handled. Any feedback on this approach is welcome.

5.3 Dedicated COVID-19 Mobility Measure Request Form
We have received 183 new requests for COVID Mobility Measures in the past month. This brings the total number of COVID Mobility requests to 5,664. A breakdown of these requests is below:

5.3 COVID Mobility E-Mail
The dedicated e-mail address continues as the primary channel to contact the COVID Mobility Team. It is attracting huge volumes of queries and feedback. The intention is that the e-mail is for general queries and the COVID Mobility Request Form should be used for specific requests at specific locations.

5.4 Councillor Updates
Updates on COVID-19 mobility measures will in future be issued to Elected Members via the combined monthly report on a monthly basis. Updates via e-mail are also being issued to stakeholders via the Transportation SPC and to the NTA for distribution to disability user groups.

5.5 Active Travel Promotion
We are continuing to utilise Dublin City Council Social Media Channels:
– to highlight COVID-19 mobility measures that have been implemented;
– to encourage the public to walk or cycle, where possible;
– to encourage social distancing as people move around the city and;
– to encourage more respect for vulnerable road users.

Part B: Walking & Cycling Major Infrastructure Projects

1. 5-Year Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Delivery

Over the next five years, Dublin City Council will undertake the planning and implementation of up to 140km of cycling and walking infrastructure. This is made up of 55km from 27 existing projects and 85km from 31 new corridors. The full list was circulated in Report No. 67/2021 issued in February 2021. Over the next six months, as Project Teams are set up, these projects will be assessed further in order to develop a comprehensive programme for delivery. This assessment of the corridors has now been commenced, starting with;
• Finglas to Killester Corridor: The overall corridor is approximately 7.3km long. The assessment is seeking to identify projects along this corridor that can be delivered over the course of five years. It is anticipated that a list of interventions along this corridor will be presented to the North West and North Central Area Committees in Autumn 2021.
• Santry Greenway: The project will include a river restoration and biodiversity and
will be led by the Water Framework Directive Office.
• Kilmainham to Thomas Street: The assessment of the corridor has also started. It is anticipated that a list of Interventions along this corridor will be presented to the
South Central Area Committee in Autumn 2021. In addition, a number of infrastructure projects that had been paused will be resumed. The following projects will resume is June 2021;
• Dodder Greenway
• Grand Canal Greenway

2. Schemes with Statutory Planning Approval

There are no new schemes undergoing the statutory planning process. This is unchanged from last month. There are four projects with statutory planning consent. These are;

1. Royal Canal Greenway
2. Dodder Greenway
3. Clontarf to City Centre
4. The Point Junction Improvement Scheme

2.1 Royal Canal Greenway
The Royal Canal Greenway is being delivered in four phases:

Phase 1: Implemented.
Phase 2: The site is looking great and this summer it will enhance opportunities for
communities to walk and cycle as well as a visual amenity. Landscaping is now
substantially complete. There will be additional work required in August-September to plant all the spring bulbs. These will provide even more attraction.

The landscaping has been led by DCC Parks and includes over 4,300m2 of wildflower meadow, with over a 100 species, 135 trees and over 400m of hedge of which circa 130 linear metres is native hedgerow mix. In addition changes at Seville Place including significant greening and upgrades to public realm. This is as reported last month.

Phase 3: Tenders leading to the appointment of a works contractor were received at the end of May 2021. It is anticipated that a Contractor appointment will be made in Q3 2021.

Phase 4: Site investigations are still ongoing. During May, the project team continued developing designs for the amending Part 8 for the section between the 6th Lock and Coke Oven Cottages. It is anticipated that the Part 8 process will commence this month. The project is still on schedule to have a works contractor on site in Q4 2021. The schedule remains unchanged from the last report.

2.2 Dodder Greenway (Herbert Park to Donnybrook)
A meeting for the Dodder Steering Group has been set up to update the members of progress to date. The project team is being set up. Planning and design work will be resuming in July 2021.

2.3 Clontarf to City Centre
Tenders leading to the appointment of a works contractor were received in May 2021. Information on the project is now accessible on the DCC webpages. The address is http://www.dublincity.ie/c2cc. The following information is now available;
• Project Overview and Progress Update
• Drawings and Visualisations
• Bus Stop Design
• Temporary Traffic Management (added in April 2021)
During the month, the Project Team has been reviewing bus stop designs following the engagement with disability groups and organisations. The project team has been preparing information leaflet, based on the feedback received from members.

2.4 The Point Junction Improvement Scheme
The Point junction improvement scheme has now been incorporated into the new Pedestrian and cycling bridge beside the Tom Clarke Bridge and will allow the design team to integrate the changes required at the Point roundabout with the new Bridge and its interface with the new Dodder Bridge on the South Side. In addition we are in discussion with Dublin Port Company in order to incorporate a proposed Greenway within DPC lands into the overall cycling infrastructure provision in this area allowing to be linked for leisure and other uses.

3. Interim Schemes

The implementation of two interim schemes to facilitate immediate safety improvements for cyclists is ongoing. This is to compensate for delays in the delivery of the main schemes.
These are:

1. Liffey Cycle Route
2. Fitzwilliam Cycle Route

3.1 Liffey Cycle Route
Works have been completed at a number of locations on the South Quays from
Fishamble Street to Queen Street. During May, works were completed on Merchants
Quay/Bridge Street.

Works were ongoing along Victoria Quay. Carriageway repairs are now complete.
Works at St John’s Road West/Victoria Quay junction have been progressing slower
than anticipated due to the challenges with accommodating existing services. As a
result, it is now expected that works will be substantially completed by end June 2021.

The designs from O’Connell Bridge to Matt Talbot Memorial Bridge, for both the North Quays and South Quays are being finalised. Tenders leading to the appointment of Contractors have been deferred to allow for the new Framework for Works Contractors to be activated. Tenders will now be issued in August 2021.

For the full permanent scheme, Dublin City Council has appointed service providers to provide the baseline archaeology, architectural heritage and conservation reports. The archaeology has received the final draft report. This will enable the screening report to be finalised in June 2021. The drafting of the public realm and opportunities study will resume thereafter.

3.2 Fitzwilliam Street Cycle Route
A road safety audit of the interim scheme was completed during the month. It is
intended to monitor the performance of the interim scheme over the coming months.