A NORTHSIDE councillor says lack of public transport infrastructure is the main issue behind a row over the closure of Walsh Road in Drumcondra.
Cllr Andrew Keegan (PBP) says traffic from the M1 eventually ends up bottle-necked in Drumcondra, and thousands of students getting to DCU add to the morning and evening rush hour jams.
The volume of traffic spills onto local residential streets, and earlier this year Dublin City Council (DCC) carried out a traffic study of the area around Walsh Road, Ferguson Road and Millmount Avenue.
Council officials wanted to develop a traffic plan from the study that would reduce traffic impact.
Several options were considered and after putting them out for public inspection, officials decided to close Walsh Road and implement a mini roundabout on Millbourne Avenue and Millmount Avenue.
The project is to be rolled out as a six month pilot project and DCC will monitor the impact the measure has on Drumcondra Road, Mobhi Road, Home Farm Road, Botanic Avenue, the Island Roads and Richmond Road.
However, the decision has been contentious, with local residents divided on the issue. Cllr Keegan says the real issue is the lack of investment in Northside transport infrastructure.
“The Northside of the city has no Luas or metro and has suffered cuts in bus services,” he said.
“Public subvention to transport services has been cut by the last two governments and now the present administration.
“The only investment in transport has been the establishment of the NTA, whose main role is to privatise the bus service and our other transport infrastructure.”
Cllr Keegan says local residents and their families in Drumcondra should be able to live in some amount of safety as they move about their streets.
“This is not the case on Walsh Road and some of the streets in the area including around Allhallows and Richmond Road, where cyclists commuting into work have to cycle on the footpath all the way down Gracepark Road and Richmond Road, but this is just another issue on a long list of issues across the Northside of Dublin,” he added.
“I am surprised some calls and emails to me show little empty for the plight of their neighbours, but I put it down to frustration on the local population with the lack of alternatives.”
