Sir, – Following the latest ridiculous effort at outlawing vehicles from the city centre by Dublin City Council ("Business organisation opposes Liffey quays car ban", October 5th), surely this must be the last clear sign that city traffic is being irresponsibly mismanaged?
It is all very well pointing to other cities around the world as being the inspiration but when I see a city like Oslo or New York being mentioned, I am further convinced that the Dublin plans are purely delusional.
What cities like Oslo and New York have within their traffic systems is tunnels. This is how diverted arterial routes through the centres allow pedestrianisation or even bicycle-only lanes to be applied. Dublin, as we all know, has no tunnels, except for the Port Tunnel, and most likely never will.
Traffic does need to travel from north city to south city. Diverting to outer circular roads will only shift the problem elsewhere and increase gridlock. Funnelling all inbound buses on north quays is also not working, with travel times from Heuston Station to O’Connell Bridge (five kilometres) now up to 45 minutes.
All of this is to facilitate growth of the Dublin Bikes vanity project, whereby road users are being encouraged to leave the car behind in favour of a bicycle without protective headgear.
Sorry, Dublin City Council, but I need my vehicle for work purposes. I use the north quays to access the city. – Yours, etc,
JUSTIN DEEGAN,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.