Sir, - We would like to take issue with several comments made in Frank McDonald's article (The Irish Times, August 2nd) on the proposed four-lane Macken Street Bridge.
Mr McDonald points to the environmental impact survey (EIS) stating that pollution will be reduced in the city centre but diverted to the Macken Street/ Guild Street areas. Currently asthma is both a chronic and widespread problem among our children. Pollution should be reduced throughout the city and not diverted from one part to another. Secondly, with 1,000 extra cars pouring onto Dublin's streets every week, it is a fallacy to think pollution will be reduced anywhere.
The article suggests that as Macken Street house prices have trebled over the years, an increase in pollution and congestion is a small price to pay. There are only 14 private houses on Macken Street, all lived in by long-term residents. These houses were purchased as homes not investments, so regardless of their value we are staying put. There are also over 800 corporation tenants on Guild St and Macken Street who are not too concerned about the middle-class obsession with the value of their homes. The health and safety of our children comes first.
Mr McDonald states that two of the four lanes will be dedicated to public transport and there will be a minimum amount of heavy goods traffic. Having being let down time and again by planners promising and not delivering we simply do not believe it. Once the bridge is built, it will be used the same way all road bridges are used.
The vast majority of the people in the Macken Street/Guild Street area are not private car owners. We rely on what little public transport there is. It is a key policy objective of Dublin Corporation to change transport from private cars to public transport. We support this as it is environmentally sustainable and safe.
Finally, the EIS suggests that unless the Macken Street bridge is built, the upgrading of O'Connell Street will be prevented. This is rubbish. The Government has just announced that £4 billion is to be spent on Metro and Luas light-rail projects. Once these networks are in place there will be plenty of road space available for all of the Corporation's upgrading schemes.
We welcome the Docklands development. We need the social housing and we need the employment. This greenfield development site gives the planners a chance to learn from the tragic mistakes of the past and to plan a modern city area with modern transport solutions. The only bridges that should be built in the Docklands area should be pedestrian bridges or those dedicated to public transport.
Our children's health has been seriously damaged by the private car and the Corporation's failure to provide a clean alternative - we will not allow a bad situation to get any worse. - Yours, etc.,
Dolores Wilson, Macken Street, Dublin 2.