COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

MOTION NO. 9

MOTION: Councillor S. O'Hara

"That this Area Committee produces a traffic management plan for Alymer Avenue, Newcastle. This was once a quiet cul de sac and has now become a rat run. All the adjoining new estates: Castle Church, Castle Lyon, and The Heath are interlinked and use Alymer Ave. to avoid the traffic ramps and traffic lights on Main Street, Newcastle. 

REPORT:

A member of the traffic team has visited site and a problem of rat running was not observed.

Aylmer Avenue is now a through road in accordance with the granted Planning Permission. The entire estate is designed as per the principles contained in the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets.  Aylmer Avenue is a narrow, short, local street with a concrete pavement.  The effect of a narrow carriageway is to slow traffic.  The effect of short streets (less than 70m long) is to slow traffic.  The effect of a concrete pavement with texture is to slow traffic speed. This all makes the other main vehicular routes more attractive to use.

In the case of coming off Aylmer Road and entering the estate via Aylmer Avenue and then coming out of Aylmer Drive and onto the Main Street again this route is so circuitous that it does not save journey time. I do not think this makes sense as a rat run route. All the roads in the estate are narrow and there are several junctions to negotiate in completing this route.

In terms of Aylmer Avenue attracting traffic from the neighbouring estate roads as a preferred vehicular route, again I think this is more circuitous and there are more direct streets to the main street.  

For all the above reasons it is not thought that an additional traffic management plan is required at this location.