New free-standing advertising panels which JC Decaux is seeking to erect at 120 locations across Dublin in exchange for a city bike scheme, would constitute a "traffic hazard" the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) has told a Bord Pleanála hearing.
The board is holding an appeals hearing on permission granted by Dublin City Council for 24 of the 120 panels. However, the DTO told the hearing that it is opposed to the scheme in its entirety.
DTO chief executive John Henry said that the purpose of the street-side advertising panels was clearly to attract the attention of drivers. "Anything which is designed to attract a driver's attention must therefore distract their attention from the road. Anything which distracts a driver's attention is unacceptable."
JC Decaux, one of the world largest advertising companies, has sought permission for 70 panels of 7sq m which will stand just over 2m off the ground, and 50 panels of 2.59sq m, similar in size to a bus shelter. All of the panels will be illuminated and can carry scrolling images.
Illuminated signs adjacent to the roadside were particularly dangerous, Mr Henry said.
"The DTO is totally opposed to the provision of on-street illuminated outdoor signage as it is considered to constitute a traffic hazard." Scrolling images were "even more distracting", he said.
The DTO's position was supported, Mr Henry said, by a recent Bord Pleanála refusal of permission for an illuminated scrolling advertising panel at Long Mile Road in west Dublin on the grounds that it would distract drivers.
The DTO was also concerned about the panels that were proposed for pedestrian areas, on the grounds that they might impede pedestrians, particularly the visually impaired.
RPS consulting engineers, representing JC Decaux, told the hearing the assertion that the signs would cause a traffic hazard was "inaccurate and without substance". "The suggestion of the appellant that the proposed advertising structure will act as a distraction and consequently a hazard to motorists implies that all signage, including public information signage should be banned. This is patently unreasonable," Angela Grady of RPS said.
Illuminated signage was part of the regular driving environment for city drivers, she said.
"The suggestion of the appellant that the proposed illuminated signage will constitute a traffic hazard is considered inaccurate and without substance."
JC Decaux and the council had gone to considerable effort to ensure the structures would not affect pedestrian movement, she said.
In exchange for allowing JC Decaux to erect 120 signs for a 15-year period, instead of the normal three-year planning permission, the council will receive 450 bikes, four public toilets, and a number of tourism and public information signs.
The hearing continues today.
