COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEASSOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF DEVELOPMENT PLAN MEETING

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

HEADED ITEM NO. 28

To amend the fourth paragraph of Section 2.2.2 as follows (additional text in bold):

‘2.2.2 National and Regional Context

South Dublin County is part of the Dublin Metropolitan Area, which is the focus of road and rail routes nationally. It is located on three of the four key road corridors in the State, the N4 to Sligo and Galway, the N7 to Cork and Limerick, and the N81. In addition, the M50 Motorway running through the eastern edge of the County forms part of the strategic Euro Route connecting Belfast to Rosslare, and links Tallaght to Blanchardstown and Dublin Airport to the North, and Dun Laoghaire and Bray to the South.

Main road links to the City Centre are good. However, the radial form of Dublin’s roads results in a concentration of traffic, particularly peak hour commuter traffic that conflicts with local traffic on the main roads leading into the City Centre. Serious environmental and congestion problems result.

Survey information over recent years has also confirmed a significant increase in the volume of strategic orbital traffic movements. Recent surveys indicate that traffic accessing the M50 from both the N4 and the N7 accounts for some 40% of vehicle movements on the terminating sections of the M50 (M1 and M11), while through vehicle movements (M1 - M11) account for approximately 10% of traffic travelling on the M50 between the N4 and N7.

Previously the public transport system linking areas within the County were poor and existing transport links from the County to Dublin City were inadequate.  However, improvements have taken pace in the last few years including the construction of the Luas Red Line to Tallaght and the ongoing construction of the Luas City West line to Saggart.  The County is now well served by public transport and is accessible and this adds to the County’s attractiveness as a tourism location. The Quality Bus Network Project Office continues to roll out a programme of Quality Bus Corridors across the County.  Urban areas and retail centres are served reasonably well by Dublin Bus.  However, some parts of the County do not have a bus service to the main urban and retail areas.  New rail stations are being provided at Kishoge and Fonthill Road, and the Kildare Rail Line has been double tracked.  In 2008, Irish Rail opened a new railway station at Park West Avenue in Cherry Orchard immediately adjacent to the South Dublin County administrative boundary.