Plans for the creation of a pedestrian and cycling plaza at Dublin's College Green will be available for public consultation from Monday.
No traffic, including buses and taxis, will be able to cross College Green to go to and from Dame Street under the changes proposed by Dublin City Council.
The council last November unveiled plans for the redesign of College Green, which included the pedestrianisation of the northbound traffic lane in front of the 18th century Bank of Ireland building opposite a two-way bus lane on what is now the south-bound traffic lane heading to Dame Street.
However, in an interview with The Irish Times the following month, council chief executive Owen Keegan said problems had emerged with the design in relation to cyclists' safety and bus access to College Green once the Luas Cross City line was completed.
The council’s proposed solution is to extend the plaza, which would be reserved for pedestrians and cyclists, to the full width of the road, stopping all traffic travelling from Dame Street through College Green to Westmoreland Street, and travelling in the opposite direction, from D’Olier Street to Dame Street.
Buses would run along the same route as the new Luas tracks, north and south in front of Trinity College, and could use this route to access Nassau Street heading south, and Westmoreland Street heading north. On a trial basis, taxis would also be allowed to use the tram line route in front of Trinity.
However, buses and taxis would not be permitted to cross the plaza into Dame Street. Most buses currently using Dame Street to cross the city would be diverted onto other routes, while buses which continued to use Dame Street would turn around before College green, either in a new U-turn lane or onto Church Lane, where the current traffic flow will be reversed to allow traffic to loop back to head south on Dame Street.
A new wide pedestrian crossing would be installed from the gates of Trinity to the plaza.
The monuments on College Green, which were to be relocated under the previous plaza design, would remain in place, and Suffolk Street would also be pedestrianised.
