COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

QUESTION NO. 7

QUESTION: Councillor E. Coburn

"To ask the Manager to detail who is responsible for the roundabout at the intersection of the Old Scholarstown Road, Scholarstown Road, Templeroan Way and for a report on the planned maintenance of this roundabout?"

REPLY:

The Parks Section undertakes the maintenance of roundabouts throughout the county as part of the routine maintenance of the public road system.

Originally, all of the roundabouts in the county were just in grass. A programme of upgrading roundabouts, as landscaped features in their own right, was initiated in the mid 1990s as a means of enhancing the local road environment, providing a form of local identity within residential and commercial areas of the county while also increasing the positive profile of South Dublin.  The roundabouts were designed to be continually changing landscapes in terms of seasonal growth and colour and were therefore quite complex requiring routine maintenance to maintain the high standard of presentation.

In the intervening period, Health & Safety legislation, regulations and codes of practice have been introduced which now have a significant bearing on how works are carried out. As working on roads is one of the higher risk areas, significant measures are required to ensure that a safe place of work is provided at all times. Putting the necessary measures in place, on a routine basis, does however have an impact on available staff time for carrying out maintenance works. 

As a result, steps have been taken in recent years to provide landscape schemes with lower maintenance requirements e.g. a move away from seasonal bedding and grass on roundabouts and replacement with shrubs and perennial plants and the elimination of grass where possible.

The roundabout at the junction of the Old Scholarstown Road, Scholarstown Road, Templeroan Way is one of the oldest landscaped roundabouts in the county and the complexity of the design reflects this. However, with the increasing care required in terms of Health & Safety, local staff are no longer able to get out onto this roundabout at the frequency required to maintain the existing planting. This has attracted unfavourable comment from both the public and the Elected Members.

It is therefore proposed to review the design of the features and to undertake a replanting scheme that will allow for a simpler design requiring fewer maintenance visits. Although the landscaping will be simpler in terms of the planting composition it will not significantly reduce the attractiveness of the roundabout.

Design work has commenced with a view to having a scheme ready for implementation later this summer, subject to the availablity of resources.