DARACH SANFEY,
Sir, - The beginning of the work on the spire could usefully concentrate the mind of the public on some other aspects of the City Council's plans for O'Connell Street. One proposal which is very disturbing is to remove yet another traffic lane in each direction. This is stated, quite incorrectly, to be a reduction from three lanes to two in each direction. In Upper O'Connell Street there are three lanes each way marked on the road surface, but the inmost lane is almost always blocked by stationary buses. There are only two lanes fully operational, a reduction of one lane in each direction means a reduction to one lane in each direction.
The council's view appears to be based on the idea that O'Connell Street has a declining role in North-South city traffic flows. There is no rational basis for this idea. In the past five years Dublin Bus has made a huge investment in new buses and many new routes have been developed which use O'Connell Street.
It is widely agreed that commuters have to make more use of buses rather than cars if the traffic problem is to be solved. Currently, buses at peak hours are operating at only about 25 per cent efficiency in the city centre. On March 19th at 6.20 p.m. I counted 22 buses stationary in the southbound lanes in O'Connell Street; a similar sight can be seen every weekday morning and evening. The central issue is how the buses can get to move at a reasonable speed along O'Connell Street in peak hours.
The council plans involve the deliberate creation of a bottleneck. This could bring about the gridlock which has been widely predicted and feared. For whatever purpose is this risk being taken? The central reservation is already wider than either of the carriageways. It is very lightly used by the public and very little effort has been made to make it attractive to pedestrians. It is already wide enough to be made into something like the Ramblas of Barcelona
There is much that can be done to improve O'Connell Street without taking away another two traffic lanes. Its role as the main North-South bus route remains crucial and is much more important than a plaza.
If the many thousands of people who use the cross-city buses for commuting do not make their voices heard now, they will face greatly increased travel times in the near future. - Yours, etc.,
J. BRADY SJ,
Milltown Park,
Dublin 6.
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Sir, - Martyn Turner's cartoon of April 9th depicting our still nameless new national monument is depressingly apt. May I respectfully suggest the erection of two duplicate spires, side by side? They could then be called "The Double Standards" - Yours, etc.,
DARACH SANFEY,
Greenpark Close,
LIMERICK.