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Irish Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘It was such an obvious thing to do': Pedestrians and cyclists reclaim Dublin's Parliament Street
Under cover of night on Thursday and into the early hours of Friday, Dublin 's Parliament Street, which runs from City Hall on Dame Street to the south Liffey quays, was transformed. Where previously pedestrians were crammed into narrow footpaths and cyclists competed with two lanes of cars and vans, the area appeared suddenly to have exhaled, with people spilling into the middle of the newly claimed street. A dry night on Thursday allowed council workers to achieve the remarkably quick installation of two-way cyclepaths, new road markings, traffic signage and strategic planters and bollards, all the way from the end of Capel Street , across Grattan Bridge and on to Parliament Street. From 6am the first section of Parliament Street, from the quayside to Essex Gate/Essex Street East – the only cross-street which runs through Parliament Street – was entirely traffic-free. READ MORE Motorists crossing Grattan Bridge from the northside are now required to turn right on to the south quays. Council workers were on hand to direct the small number of drivers who were not content to follow the clear signage and thought they might be able to squeeze their way through from Essex Quay, despite flower boxes and bollards being obvious obstacles. Some blocked the quays to argue they had to get through for deliveries, which they were quickly assured they could do, with a very short detour on to Fishamble Street and then Exchange Street Lower to reach Essex Gate and Essex Street East, which is remaining open to traffic. Deliveries are also permitted in the section of Parliament Street between Essex Street and Dame Street from 6am-11am. Shortly after 11am, another council worker arrived with bollards to prevent any further entry, making both sections of street, north and south of Essex Street, traffic-free. He will make another trip before 6am to remove the same bollards. These will eventually be replaced with automated bollards, Green Party councillor Feljin Jose said. 'These will lower automatically for emergency vehicles but make it impossible for non-emergency vehicles to enter the space,' he said. More work will be done in the weeks ahead to improve the look and feel of Parliament Street, says Claire French, senior executive engineer with Dublin City Council. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Overall, he felt the street 'looks very well' but perhaps additional work could be undertaken to calm cars coming from Essex Gate. More work will be done in the weeks ahead to improve the look and feel of Parliament Street, said Claire French, senior executive engineer with Dublin City Council . 'From Monday, we will start upgrading the street with the installation of seating and planting. We will be resurfacing the road with the buff-coloured surface and in time if will have a similar appearance to Capel Street.' The removal traffic from most of Capel Street since 2022 resulted in a significant drop in cars crossing the river into Parliament Street, French said, justifying the reallocation of space to pedestrians and cyclists. 'On a Saturday you would have 23,000 pedestrians on Parliament Street – that's a lot – but only 1,800 cars using the street on a daily basis, it really was out of balance so what we have done is rebalanced the space.' Siobhán Conmy, owner of bar Street 66, has for several years campaigned for the traffic to be removed from the street. 'We had wanted it to be done at the same time as Capel Street, I'm really excited now to have it finally in,' she said. 'When you look at the lovely backdrop of City Hall and the tree-lined vista right the way down to the river and across to Capel Street, it was such an obvious thing to do.' Conmy said she understood the retention of traffic on Essex Gate and Essex Street East. 'There are apartments above and behind, so they have to have access, it's only fair.' The Temple Bar Company organised a market on Parliament Street on Friday. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Derek McCauley is one of the few business owners on Parliament Street who is also a resident, having converted the space above his wine bar, Café Rubis, from a Turkish/Engilsh college to an apartment in 2014. 'I'm looking forward to this but with a small amount of anxiety over the possibility that there will be an increase in antisocial behaviour at night time,' he said. 'I'm also a bit concerned about the deliveries in the morning. There are four pubs on this street, and if the footpath is being widened and they all going to be getting deliveries of kegs of beer in the early morning, I'm not sure there's going to be the space for all of that.' However, he said he hoped the change would draw more tourism to Parliament Street. 'I am very positive about it overall. I think it will improve business on the street.' Martin Harte, chief executive of business representative group Temple Bar Company, which organised a market on the street on Friday, with further events and street performances planned over the weekend and through the summer, says reclaiming the street from traffic will draw tourists. 'I can remember 20 years ago where there were articulated trucks trundling up this street every day. It is now a calm space designed for people. I think this is one of the greatest days Temple Bar has seen in a long time.'
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cost of Pinstone Street pedestrianisation project doubles
The cost of pedestrianizing part of Sheffield city centre has almost doubled since work began, having gone over budget for a second to Pinstone Street, including adding cycle paths, were originally expected to cost £14m when outlined in that cost had risen to £21m by October 2024 and required additional funding from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to plug the a council report said the work was expected to cost £27m after "a number of setbacks" had led to "increasing costs". The scheme has attracted a number of criticisms, including from visually impaired people who said the plans, which would see cyclists ride alongside pedestrians, were passengers and local businesses also complained about the removal of busses from the council, however, said relocating buses from Pinstone Street had created a pedestrian friendly environment with "high-quality transport hubs" on Rockingham Street and Arundel Gate to reflect the changing nature of the city report added: "The proposals included a number of bus priority measures, including bus gates, to reduce through traffic. This will ultimately provide benefits for bus operators and users."The council admitted that support for the projected had flatlined, saying: "In 2021 there was significantly stronger support for the project with 63% of responses positive compared against 27%."However, updated results from 2024 show the feedback from public consultation is mixed with 71% of businesses providing neutral, or did not provide, feedback." Meanwhile, plastic fences and bollards have reappeared on nearby Fargate – two months after a renovation scheme was finally completed following lengthy council said the subterranean bins needed "bespoke guard rails" before they can be used and said they would be installed before the end of the Miskell, chair of the regeneration committee, said: "The new bins have been installed to rid Fargate of those unsightly industrial bins that used to be dotted across the street. The Fargate redevelopment has really given the area the breath of fresh air it needed." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
