ALTERNATIVE routes for CIE's light rail project, to avoid demolishing a terrace of late Victorian two storey houses off Smithfield, have been put forward in a study by the Luas project team.
The study, published yesterday, is a discussion document and does not specifically favour any particular option: what it sets out are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting any one of eight, based on a "multi criteria analysis".
It was commissioned after a bitter controversy broke out over plans to demolish Arran Quay Terrace, just west of Smithfield, to make way for the proposed Luas line linking Tallaght with the city centre. This was branded a "social disaster" by local residents.
They accused CIE's light rail project team of being so committed to the "preferred route" through Arran Quay Terrace that it was refusing to examine alternatives, such as running the trams along the north or south quays or via North King Street.
But the discussion document points out that there would be environmental drawbacks in using the quays as a light rail route. Although the "hummocks" at some of the Liffey bridges could be surmounted, it would involve extending the quay walls outwards over the river.
The option of bringing the Tallaght line into town via Dame Street would work quite well in engineering terms, according to the study. But it would have the disadvantage of bypassing Heuston Station and would not have the same impact in terms of urban renewal.
The light rail project team also believed that it was important to establish a "beach head" on the north side of the city, rather than having the first phase serving Tallaght and Dundrum exclusively on the south side, particularly as the Ballymun line is likely to be deferred.
One of the criteria used in assessing the options is the extent to which they would contribute to urban regeneration.
In linking Collins Barracks (now being converted to house the National Museum) with O'Connell Street, the study suggests, the light rail line could veer off Benburb Street and through a site currently occupied by a large warehouse beside the barracks.
It would then go through Hendrick Place, passing close to the Incorporated Law Society (formerly the Bluecoat School) and into Smithfield, via the relatively wide - expanse of Haymarket. One of its disadvantages is that it would "break up" Smithfield as an urban space.
Another option, listed as "lb" in the study, would involve trams turning north from Benburb Street into Blackhall Place, then running along Hendrick Street before turning south again Smithfield. This is seen as having too many twists and turns to be viable options.
CIE's light rail project team may still defend its preferred route via Arran Quay Terrace at the public inquiry, now expected, to be held early next year. It has offered to build new three storey houses, with roof gardens, for the nine households affected by the scheme.
"The residents have a genuine gripe, but we've got to build the system somewhere," said Mr Michael Sheedy, the project engineer. "At the end of the day, it's a question of balancing what is essentially a local problem with the greater good of the city."
