COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

QUESTION NO. 2

QUESTION: Councillor P. Gogarty

To ask the Chief Executive for an update on traffic projections on the Newcastle Road for 2022-26 in line with TII data regarding the extension of the gridlock periods on this road and all routes at peak AM hours; to outline, following the last study, what measures are planned to ensure a best case scenario in the face of further housing development in Adamstown and Clonburris exiting out onto this road; and if a statement can be made on the matter.

REPLY:

There has been extensive work done with several published studies done on the modelling of the existing traffic and projected traffic volumes on the Newcastle Road.  These include the NTA's GDA transport Study 2022-2042, the Lucan Access Study, and the Adamstown and Clonburris SDZ Transport Strategies and the NTA South West Dublin Local Area Model December 2018.

It is widely understood that congestion is an existing problem at this location, particularly at peak am and pm travel times.  In addition the studies mentioned above have focussed on addressing these existing problems of transport access while facilitating the much needed additional housing and employment numbers required for our growing population.

A number of solutions have been identified as crucial to cater for this increased development at Adamstown, Clonburris and Grangecastle Business Park:

Firstly, the modal share of car journeys must be reduced. This can be achieved with better provision of compact growth and Public Transport, a more complete and upgraded cycle network and better permeability for cyclists and pedestrians along desire lines.

Key Projects that have been identified are:

The continuation of the Bus Connects roll out.  More Orbital services are planned to join the neighbourhood and village centres to the Main town centres to give frequent, multi directions Bus Services to many more areas. 

The Dart + Southwest Project will increase services from 5000 to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction at peak times.  This upgrade will particularly serve the Adamstown and Clonburris areas which are going to expand in near future.

The Cycle South Dublin project is a comprehensive and well funded plan to improve the Cycle network in South Dublin.  There are number of key routes in the Lucan, Adamstown and Clonburris areas that will greatly improve cycle facility coverage in our County.

A Lucan Luas is also planned. South Dublin has made a number of Submissions to the NTA on the importance of the timely delivery of this project.

There is also mention of a N2 to N3 link road.  However, there is no detail available on this link at the moment.

Modelling and Forecasting Travel Demand:

All these plans have used the NTA's East Regional Model (ERM) to forecast the growth in traffic volumes and the demand for travel. The whole of the GDA is disaggregated into more manageable Travel Zones which gives the results in more meaningful zones.  For example, the zones of interest at this location are Adamstown Zone, Clonburris Zone and Grangecastle Zone. In each zone, a Trip matrix is generated showing, the numbers of trips and the destination of those trips for each zone.  From this we can identify how we might serve those travel movements, with the projects and measures that have been named above.

This is a very complex subject, and if the members wish a specific presentation on the subject, time could be organised to go into further detail.

Summary:

The travel demand generated by all the planned development has been calculated in all the studies.  Measures to cater for these travel movements have been identified and are planned to be delivered to facilitate this planned growth.  SDCC will continue to press for the timely delivery of these identified projects to facilitate the successful delivery of our residential, commercial and business growth areas.