Further public consultation on bus corridor plans

There were a total of 13,000 submissions during the first round of public consultation on plans for 16 bus corridors

Revised plans for dedicated bus corridors in Dublin are going out for another round of public consultation.

It is understood the National Transport Authority is putting forward new plans which will mean fewer householders losing their front gardens and fewer trees being felled.

There were a total of 13,000 submissions during the first round of public consultation on plans for 16 bus corridors and cycle tracks which the NTA has said are needed to cope with increasing population and congestion in the capital.

To facilitate two lanes each for buses, cyclists and private motorists along with footpaths the NTA proposed widening the road space along parts of the routes that would involve 230km of bus priority.

A total of 1,300 householders faced losing part of their front gardens, while hundreds of on street parking spaces would be lost and over 1,000 trees felled.

Following complaints from residents' groups across Dublin and a series of group and one-on-one meetings the NTA is unveiling new plans to go for a second round of public consultation.

It is understood that the NTA will be proposing more one-way traffic systems for private motorists, rerouting segregated cycle tracks and making more roads bus-only to reduce the need for road widening.

It is also understood that overall the impact on private householders will be reduced by 40%, while trees will be saved in areas including Glasnevin, the city centre and Rathgar.

Following another six weeks of public consultation there will be a planning application to An Bord Pleanála by the end of the year and it is hoped that construction - which is being funded as part of the €2bn BusConnects project - will be carried out on a phased basis up to 2027.

Watch: Explained: The controversy around BusConnects

NTA Chief Executive Anne Graham said it was open to making changes to its new proposals.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, she said changes were expected and when taking on a big project you always look to improve it.

''This is again a second consultation so we are very open to more submissions being received to see are there other elements that can be changed to make it a plan that is acceptable to the widest group of people as possible, '' she said.

Ms Graham said that while the consultation closes on 17 April, construction on the new plan will not begin for another two years.

She said: ''Depending on what it would take in terms of getting a planning permission we wouldn’t see construction starting until about 2022.''

The new plan will include the use of bus gates and signal controlled priority given to the buses to help ease city traffic.

Ms Graham said: "The bus gate is, as you know, if you go through College Green, for public transport only.

''The private cars are diverted away from that traffic, whereas the signal controlled priority is where all modes of traffic use the same road but the private car is held back to give the bus a priority. Then it’s released again when the bus is passed through,'' she said.

(Pic: BusConnects.ie)

The 16 core bus corridor routes requiring physical improvements are :