MetroLink and city transportation

Stand-alone planning of costly critical infrastructure is bound to fail

Sir, – Frank McDonald’s article on the proposed Metro route makes depressing reading as it underlines the limitations of stand-alone planning of costly critical infrastructure (“MetroLink will lay waste to chunks of the city centre but won’t integrate city transportation”, Opinion & Analysis, January 7th).

Rather like the National Children’s Hospital, squeezed into a restricted site without much regard to its transport context, we now find another huge project being proposed, in this instance a vital transport development which appears to have been visualised with only limited regard to other transport linkages or to its impact on land use.

How can this piecemeal approach be justified? Why is the Metro route not being forensically linked to the development of a wider Dart underground? And why have earlier initiatives, such as the Mater hospital underground facility, now been discarded? What is the rationale to making a terminus at Charlemont? What is the point of a possible Metro station at the east end of Stephen’s Green and a possible Dart station at the west end? And, at the Swords end, why not continue the Metro line to link with mainline rail and so facilitate access to the airport from Belfast and the northeast generally?

Fifty years ago, the need for a comprehensive, co-ordinated approach to planning Dublin city resulted in a Dublin land use and transportation strategy published by the later-dumped An Foras Forbartha. That strategy offered an integrated, cross-sectoral vision that embraced the idea that transport and land use/housing are two sides of the same coin, to be planned and developed in tandem. Whatever chances such rationality may have had then, it has had none in an era of neoliberalism. Yet the issue raised in 1971 does not go away. It is only being continually postponed.

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The various sectoral interests now posing as stakeholders in Dublin frequently appear to operate at variance in relation to both good planning and a co-ordinated strategic vision for the city and its region. A more joined-up approach to planning the city region is needed urgently. Is it too much to hope that the restructured planning board can insist on a more integrated approach to major infrastructure projects and to long-term planning in general? – Yours, etc,

ARNOLD HORNER,

Glenageary,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – When the tunnel boring machine, which is to be assembled at significant cost for the central portion of the proposed MetroLink, has arrived at St Stephen’s Green, it should direct itself towards Leeson Street, continue under the Grand Canal, under Upper Leeson Street and Morehampton Road, under Donnybrook, under the Dodder and emerge beyond Donnybrook garage, where the line can be elevated over the dual-carriageway median and continue to connect with the existing Green line at Leopardstown.

This route can both address capacity concerns on the existing Green line and provide useful tram connectivity to a portion of the city and institutions not served at present: Donnybrook stadium, RTÉ, St Vincent’s Hospital, UCD, and Stillorgan village.

When considering the rail network as a network, it also seems difficult to understand the logic in not connecting MetroLink to the mainline rail service near Donabate or Malahide: the termination of rail services at park-and-ride facilities can only continue our over-reliance on cars. – Is mise,

PAUL ARNOLD,

Ranelagh,

Dublin 6.