Things are starting to get better ( probably because of The EU) with regards to public bodies consulting with the public. We are also getting better at having policies and procedures in place to make things better for people. One of these is the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets, from the Depts or Transport & Environment a few years ago. Unfortunately councils and public bodies have not been great so far in implementing these standards. I have last month made 2 submissions to bus connects which I hope will change this situation. They are reproduced below.

I will be making a further submission later this month on CBC7 which goes through Inchicore .

Gaelscoil Inse Chór: Submission to Bus Connects (Lucan-City Centre, CBC6)

Gaelscoil Inse Chór is located in the Memorial Park in Islandbridge in Dublin 8, to the north of CBC6 (R148/feeder to N4).  The school has 237 pupils, and serves  Islandbridge, Inchicore, Kilmainham and East Ballyfermot, which lie to the south of the CBC6.  We also have children who walk from Drimnagh.  The Coiste (Coiste na dtuisti/parents council) include a number of parents who express a preference for walking their children to school.  The Dept of Health’s National Guidelines on Physical activity for Ireland discuss the need for physical activity, and improving the proportion of children who walk to school is consistent with improving these statistics.

 

The issue of crossing CBC6 has previously been an issue where the school and coiste have engaged with Dublin City Council.  It is the view of the School and Coiste that Bus Connects is an opportunity to ensure that best practice is applied to the design of the road which will encourage both public transport usage and the safety of vulnerable road users.  We would urge the BusConnects project to consider in totality the Dept. of Transport Design Manual for Urban Streets (DMURS) and the NTA national Cycle Manual.

Our observations will be with regard to sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3 of the text only, and specific to the junctions of R839 (Memorial Road) and R111 (South Circular Road) with R148 (Con Colbert Road)  It should be noted that the Busconnect report contains some inaccuracies with regard to the naming of roads, and for clarity in this document we will refer to the junctions by their road number.

Speed Limits

R148 is currently a 60km/h route from HSQ as far as the junction between the R833/R148.  This speed limit should be reduced to 50km/h for the following reasons:

·      To facilitate the crossing of children to Memorial park and Gaelscoil Inse Chór

·      The presence of mandatory on-road cycle lanes as described in the cycle manual requires a maximum of 50km/h.

Pedestrian Crossing at Junction of R111/R148

This junction is used by school children and also by tourists travelling between the Phoenix Park and Kilmainham Gaol/Royal Hospital Kilmainham.  Traffic from the DCC “Outer Orbital Route” accesses the R148 for onward journeys onto the national roads network at this point.  The junction is also in close proximity to the developing community of Islandbridge (increased by 687 people between census 2011 and 2016 as per CSO)  The junction was redesigned in the 1980s for the building of the Chapelizod bypass, and the main railway line from Heuston station to the south and west of the country passes diagonally under the junction. 

In line with the DMURS (in particular section 4.3.2 and 4.4.3) and Cycle manual, we would ask that the Road Safety Audit consider the following changes:

·      Widening of all pedestrian crossings to 4m (DMURS p87) to allow for school peak load crossings, noting that there may be a mix of parents pushing prams and bicycles, and some children may be on scooters,

·      Maximum waiting times on all junctions should not be more than 90seconds (p90). The crossing time (both green and amber) time need to be increased to allow enough time for large groups including 4-5 year old children to cross.

·      The current slip roads for the two left turns from R148 onto R111 should be removed, reducing the number of carriageways pedestrians must cross to two. (see figure 4.40 in DMURS)

·      All metal barriers should be removed from this junction, but consideration of a stone bollard at the corners should be made as pedestrian footways are narrow due to the railway bridge.

·      Consideration should be made for the installation of traffic light cameras to prosecute drivers breaking the lights.

·      Setback vehicle stop lines and Advance Stop Lines (ASLs) for cyclists should be provided at all stop lines.

Pedestrian Crossing at Junction of R839/R148

·      Widening of all pedestrian crossings to 4m (DMURS p87) to allow for school peak load crossings, noting that there may be a mix of parents pushing prams and bicycles, and some children may be on scooters,

·      Maximum waiting times on all junctions should not be more than 90seconds (p90).  Green & amber signal times to be lengthened, as above.

·      All metal barriers should be removed from this junction, but consideration of a stone bollard at the corners should be made as pedestrian footways are narrow due to the railway bridge.

·      Consideration should be made for widening the bridge over the railway on Memorial Road (R839) to make room for the addition of cycle lanes on this road (the carriageway currently narrows on the bridge)

·      There is no facility for narrowing the footpath on the southern side of this road.  In fact, the wall will have to be moved backwards to make space for adequate waiting space for pedestrians crossing the road.

Bus Stop Locations

·         Bus stops should be moved as close as possible to the junctions to allow for easier interchange, and reduced walking distance along the heavily trafficked R148 for small children.  The existing position of the 4 bus stops close to the 2 junctioned mentioned above are sub-optimal.

 

With regards

 

Oisín Ó hAlmhain

Parent

On behalf of Coiste na dTuistí, Gaelscoil Inse Chór

Second personal submission:

I am a resident in Inchicore, a cyclist, parent of children in Gaelscoil Inse Chór and very much a supporter of the Bus Connects project.  I support the submission being made separately by Gaelscoil Inse Chór regarding pedestrian crossings for the junctions of Con Colbert Road with South Circular Road and Memorial Road.
Plans exist to add cycle lanes on Memorial Road (map 26). These cycle lanes need to be planned in such a way that cyclists can access them from Con Colbert Road and continue/to and from the contra-flow cycle lane on Inchicore Road.  As presently shown on the maps there are noticeable gaps at the junctions.  This has been problematic on Inchicore Road, as neither pedestrians, motorists or cyclists are sure what to do, and frequently come into conflict.  Expecting cyclists to dismount is not acceptable, and so the right turn from Con Colbert into Memorial has to be designed for.  
In addition, on map 28 of the route, and as a cyclist, I would appreciate if the left turn from St. John’s Road onto South Circular rd could be looked at.  Ideally the island could be removed from this corner, making a tighter angled left turn, as per the DoT DEsign Manual for Urban Roads. If this is not considered possible, the cycle lane could be continued along the left turn, pushing the traffic lane into the chevrons beside the island.  These chevrons are often used by a second lane of motorists turning left here, causing angry scenes and a danger to other road users.
On Map 30 a slip road has been shown for turning left from St. John’s Road onto Military Road.  This is contrary to the advice of the DMURS and would cause safety concerns at this junction.  
On map 31, the pedestrian crossing directly in front of the ticket office to Heuston station appears from the map to have been moved westwards.  This crossing is an essential part of an interchange between bus and rail.  At peak times this and the nearby westbound bus stop have large numbers of pedestrian movements.  I would suggest that if possible, this pedestrian crossing be widened to 4m.  All the railings should also be removed as they have been shown to be dangerous to vulnerable road users and create congestion among pedestrians at busy times.  Ideally, the crossing could be raised and the whole area in front of Heuston station should be made a 30km/h zone.
As large numbers of buses from a number of operators and networks use the west bound bus stop, there can be a backlog of buses, sometimes blocking the pedestrian crossing.  The bus stop area needs to be significantly increased, with consideration by the NTA of adding additional bus stops for longer distance services. The cycle lane needs to be continuous at this point, perhaps bypassing the bus stops.
The River Camac Greenway will also intersect with St. John’s Road close to this point but is not shown in the plans.
I would appreciate if my comments could be considered by the road safety audit team.
With regards
Oisín