Hundreds of homeowners could lose front gardens
By Brendan Grehan
HUNDREDS of homeowners could lose their front gardens if radical plans to improve the bus service go ahead.
Recently, the National Transport Authority outlined proposals to develop 230km of dedicated bus corridors and more than 200km of cycle paths across the city. This will require that gardens or parts of gardens be purchased under compulsory purchase orders.
It could lead to a financial windfall of up to €25,000 per square metre for some homeowners.
The plan aims to develop 16 dedicated bus corridors across the city. There are plans for bus corridors between Lucan and the City Centre, Liffey Valley and the City Centre, Clondalkin to Drimnagh, Greenhills to the City Centre, Kimmage to the City Centre, Tallaght to Terenure and Rathfarnham to the City Centre.
The proposals put forward a reduction in bus journey times.
For example, the current bus journey time from Liffey Valley to the City Centre is 65 minutes, under BusConnects it is claimed it would drop to 35 minutes. Similarily the NTA claim a reduction in bus journey time from Rathfarnham to the City Centre from 75 minutes to 20-25 minutes.
The plans will be put out for formal public consultation in September or October.
Hundreds of property owners throughout South and West Dublin will be impacted by the proposals.
Losing parts of their gardens
Some will face losing parts of their gardens so roads can be widened to accommodate cycle paths, bus corridors, pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
Local TD John Lahart has welcomed the proposals but has expressed disappointment with the fact that no infrastructure has been provided for the Firhouse, Knocklyon and growing area of Ballycullen.
He said: “Public Transport is the way forward and along with the LUAS Red Line, the inclusion of a rapid bus corridor citybound serving Tallaght to Terenure is to be welcomed.
“I am an advocate and regular user of public transport and it is the only solution to the growing traffic congestion facing the city, which is set to cost the economy up to €3bn in 2030.
“I am hugely frustrated that Firhouse, Ballycullen and Knocklyon have once again been forgotten by this government and people need to be mindful at election time that Fine Gael has abandoned Dublin South West when it comes to transport infrastructure provision.”
Over in Lucan, Cllr Ed O’Brien called on the NTA to provide clarity on its plans.
He told The Echo: “This is a welcome plan if it’s operated properly and should see an increase in the number of buses servicing Lucan as the turnaround time will be reduced however the NTA have given very little detail about the routes in Lucan affected and whether there will be an impact on the gardens and parking spaces of residents of Lucan.
“It has been suggested that up to 1300 houses in Dublin will be impacted by the transport plan but the NTA have not identified where these homes are located.”
Cllr O’Brien has stated that he has put these questions to the NTA and awaits a response:
“Residents of Lucan need to know the impact of this plan, they need to know what other steps the NTA propose to alleviate traffic congestion in the area and they need to know that the roll out of this plan will result in a higher number of buses coming to and from Lucan on a regular basis.”
