DublinTown engagement sees Luas Cross City works put on hold during Christmas trading period

DublinTown has been engaging with the NTA (National Transport Authority) and TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) in relation to Luas Cross City works proposed for the Christmas trading period.

We objected to the initial proposals which would have seen ongoing road and paving works during the Christmas trading period.  Nor could we endorse subsequent proposals that would have seen on street works suspended from 1st December as we believe businesses need to maximise Christmas trade from Black Friday which falls on 25th November.

At a meeting last week with the NTA, TII and the contractor we secured a further scaling back of the works over the Christmas period. This schedule was agreed at a wider meeting this morning with Minister Shane Ross and other business representative groups.

The agreement will see Luas Cross City works suspended before Black Friday (25th November) on Dawson Street, the retail side of Nassau Street and Lower Grafton Street, in pedestrian areas through College Green, on Westmoreland Street and the footpaths and carriageways on O’Connell Street.

There will be road works on Parnell Street, however, along the section west of O’Connell Street the pavements will be clear with full access along the length of the pavement on both sides of the street.  Road access from O’Connell Street to Dominick Street Lower will be widened to 2 lanes westbound, allowing for better access to car parks on Parnell Street.

Pavement works outside business premises will be deferred until January 2017, however, there will be paving works around Trinity College in November and December.  There will also be road works around the Irish Life building on Marlborough Street and on Hawkins Street.

We believe that this is a fair compromise to allow for the Christmas trading period and also to ensure that the Luas is functioning and carrying passengers in time for Christmas 2017.  TII and NTA are to be commended for their understanding of the needs of the business community at this important time of the year and for the changes that they have made to their plans to accommodate these requirements.