COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE

Monday, March 25, 2019

MOTION NO. 9

MOTION: Councillor M. Murphy

That this committee calls on the Council to consider modifying the scope of the N81 Landscaping Part 8 to mitigate noise off the N81 affecting the Housing nearest to it. In particular to look at additional Tree planting to create noise buffering that is the same or better than the noise buffering from the centre mound, recently removed from the section of the N81 between the Glenview and Balrothery roundabouts.

REPORT:

A report on the Part 8 public consultation process for the N81 Landscape Improvement Scheme was presented to the meeting of South Dublin County Council on March 13, 2017.  The project is spilt into a number of phases:

• Phase 1 is the section from M50 eastwards to Whitestown Way.
• Phase 2 commences at Whitestown Way and runs westwards 
• Phase 3 is from the Templeogue area to M50.

At the detailed design and construction stage; each above phase is broken into a number of smaller phases for operational and traffic management purposes.

The initial works on Phase 1 of the N81 scheme have commenced on site just west of the M50 and will be completed in in Q2 2019. The works include a new footpath for a section of the route on the southern section of the roadway, land shaping and forming, new planting on the central median and roadsides and re-design of the roundabout at Avonbeg. As the majority of the works on the N81 scheme are landscape planting works the timing of the construction phases is required to match the available planting seasons; i.e. September / October to March / April. The proposed landscape works in the Phase 1 section have also been extended to include an upgrade of the public lighting along a section of the N81 west of the M50, this work has been funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland. In the interim the detailed design of the next stage is underway.

The N81 Part 8 allowed for the removal of the median mound on the N81 in order to allow for the improvement in the landscape in this area. Noise barriers were not proposed at the Part 8 stage as they are not warranted. SDCC have reviewed the functionality of the mound in terms of sound attenuation and the existing mounding along the median of the N81 did not serve a purpose as a noise barrier and was not designed as such.  The noise levels (db) in this area are not considered exceptional, and the removal of the mound should not have an adverse impact in terms of noise reduction in the area. It is acknowledged that the visual impact of the current works is quite stark; although this has allowed a re-newed focus on the Dublin Mountains; which was one of the most consistent comments at the public consultation stage for this section of the proposals. In addition the works are not completed as yet and are currently still in progress; the planting which will take away from the current open aspect will commence shortly. This will include planting on the slope adjacent to the houses and hedgerows and large sized Oak trees within the median. The trees will have a slight buffering effect on noise; however they will also serve an amelioration effect on the environment in terms of air quality as well as provide improvement to the visual aspect of the area.