Lack of clarity in how people cycling will access the cycle route in plaza area. Access route to Bank of Ireland car park to be maintained across the plaza. DublinBikes station removed from beside the former Central Bank building.Dublin City Councils Grow College Green Project which is a plan for a low traffic area between Georges Street and the Luas line on College Green, where buses will also continue to go north-south is expected to go to planning this summer, but many of the design elements for cycling and even pedestrians seem to go against guidance and best practices. For cycling, this includes unexplained junction designs, routing people cycling away from one Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network route, and the project seemingly taking no account of another. This means this is at least the third Dublin City Council project team in the last year to have disregarded the planned Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network.For pedestrians, the project drawings show a widened footpath on the plaza side of South Great Georges Street junction, but the opposite side footpath appears to be left as narrow as it is today, and there is no clear way shown for how people cycling on Georges Street northbound will access the plaza area.There is no dedicated cycle path in the new plaza area, but rather a 4.5 metre-wide access route that will serve as a cycle route and also provide delivery access and access to the small car park at the Bank of Ireland building, which will allow cars and vans access to the area for longer than just morning delivery hours.The draft plans indicate the council intends to install three pedestrian crossings in the plaza. This is despite nearby examples of traffic-light-controlled pedestrian crossings being largely ignored by all users including pedestrians en masse in low-traffic or car-free areas, such as Capel Street and the Grafton Street access point to Suffolk Street.The pedestrian space on much of Dame Street between Foster Place and Georges Street also does not appear to comply with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Street which outlines that the Minimum space for larger groups to pass comfortably in Areas of high pedestrian activity is 4 metres.The pedestrian zones alongside the planned 8.2 metre-wide planting areas and 4,.5 metre service route on Dame Street are only 5 metres wide, but several visuals indicate that much of this space includes areas for tables and chairs, bicycle parking, trees, and other elements.The manual outlines that pedestrian movement space and areas for signs, trees, benches, etc., should be treated as separate spaces.Delivery & Servicing RoutesThe Delivery & Servicing Routes are shown as for the morning period only, with a note that Times for the morning delivery period will be reviewed. However, the proposed local access to the Bank of Ireland car park and the delivery access after the morning period include a two-way motor vehicle route through part of the plaza centre.A drawing indicates that this will be bollard controled with access after the morning via Temple Bar. IMAGE: An extract showing the local car and delivery access after the morning. The full map on the project page shows the street layout south of Dame Street.IMAGE: The route into the Bank of Ireland car park and rear loading area is shown in grey. This, however, is indicated as operating throughout the day, not just in morning loading hours. Safe cycle routesWhile media reports have repeated a city council press release that the project includes safe cycle routes, the two-way cycling entrance to the plaza will be shared with 24-hour access for motorists, including at least taxis and delivieres but with no defined restriction on other private traffic, via Temple Lane South (the lane marked to the centre right of the drawing below).It is also unclear from the draft drawing released yesterday how people cycling northbound on South Georges Street would be able to access the plaza. Cycle lanes are shown on Georges Street and the west end of Dame Street, where motor traffic will still use, but the cycle lane is currently shown as discontinued, where people cycling would round the corner of the two streets at the same time as buses and taxis.The highly detailed drawings, which show the locations of access bollards, ramps to raised crossings, greenery, and pedestrian crossings, also include a disappearing cycle lane at the point where access-route via Temple Lane traffic crosses the cycle lane. The design also makes no provision for how people cycling arriving from the plaza or Georges Street would access Eustace Street, a primary cycle route in the planned Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network.As recently reported on another project, it is an objective of Dublin City Councils own development plan a legally binding planning document To support the development of a connected cycling network in the City through the implementation of the NTAs Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan, subject to environmental assessment and route feasibility. However, several city council projects in recent years appear to have dismissed the network plan or guidance around how such cycle routes should be developed.Cycling access from Grafton Street / Nassau StreetOn the Trinity side of the plaza, there is no provision for people cycling northbound from Grafton Street to access the cycle path along the Bank of Ireland building.For people cycling along Nassau Street and into Suffolk Street, the direct route into Dame Street and College Green is via Church Lane, and similarly for anybody on the planned College Green cycle route heading towards the South William Street area, Church Lane is the direct route.But despite Church Lane being part of a secondary cycle route in the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network, the Grow College Green project team has not included it as part of the cycle routes in their project.Instead, people cycling, according to the route plan provided by the project team, are supposed to use Trinity Street where the existing carragway will be narrowed by space for a loading bay, a taxi rank, and disabled parking.DublinBikes and bicycle parkingMuch like the Portobello plaza project, where the DublinBikes station was relocated, the DublinBikes station just off Dame Street is shown as removed from beside the former Central Bank building and replaced with a loading bay.There is no alternative location shown. If it is not replaced in the project area or nearby, the large gap in DublinBikes stations in the area will widen. The current gap in stations extends around the front half of Trinity College, and the area around OConnell Bridge, stretching from Tara Street Station to a large part of Temple Bar. This gap has already been made larger in recent years with the removal of the station at Great Strand Street, while building work on both sides of the street has been ongoing.There are also only three regularly-sized clusters of bicycle parking shown in the project area, which includes a number of streets both north and south of Dame Street, while at least some of the planned loading bays and other features remove existing bicycle parking. Consultation and project documentsThe full drawing and further information can be found at engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/grow-college-green, where submissions can also be made until midnight on 11 March 2026.The council says: All submissions received will be carefully reviewed by Dublin City Council and the project design team. Your feedback at this stage will play a vital role in refining the design before it is finalised and submitted for planning permission.A presentation by the project team outlining the plan to the councils Mobility and Public Realm Committee, along with their responses to committee members questions, is available at dublincity.public-i.tv.

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