Officials are “cautiously optimistic” that restrictions on car travel along certain sections of Dublin’s quays are going to plan.
Since August 25th, private cars have been banned from driving from Bachelors Walk towards Eden Quay on the north quays between 7am and 7pm.
Similarly, private cars cannot travel from Burgh Quay towards Aston Quay on the southside during the same 12-hour period.
The restrictions were implemented as part of the Dublin City Centre Traffic Plan, which hopes to encourage more people to use public transport when they travel into the city centre.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Lord Mayor James Geoghegan said there have been no major problems so far.
“From my own perspective, the fact that I’m not getting a lot of emails in my inbox of people complaining about it, I think is a good sign,” he said.
“From speaking to the head of Traffic and Transport and the CEO of Dublin Bus last week, they’re cautiously optimistic that it is functioning in the way that they wanted it to.
“Bearing in mind that the key purpose of this was to ensure that you’d have bus routes operating quicker, more frequently.
“So far, the early indications from Dublin Bus are that that is taking place.”
The Dublin City Transport Plan starts this Sunday 25th of August 2024. @LordMayorDublin James Geoghegan has urged motorists to make themselves aware of the changes.
Starting from 7am to 7pm this Sunday 25th of August, general traffic will not be able to go straight from… pic.twitter.com/Tu7LzlHHqq— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) August 23, 2024
Cllr Geoghegan also praised the response of Dublin’s drivers to the new restrictions and described it as “extremely welcome” that predictions of chaos had proven to be incorrect.
“The other thing to say is that drivers are actually following the new rules,” he said.
“There’s a degree of soft enforcement taking place but ultimately, drivers are following the new rules, understanding the rules and planning their routes.”
Climate Action Week
This week, Dublin’s four local authorities are marking Climate Action Week, which Cllr Geoghegan described as a way to celebrate the “the gains we’ve made when it comes to climate change”.
As part of the week, customers of the following shared mobility providers can avail of discounts.
- Bleeper Bike.
- Bolt Bikes.
- Moby Bikes.
- Driveyou.
- GoCar.
- Hertz Car Share.
- Enterprise Mobility.
- Yuko Share.
Local authorities have also organised a number of free events at locations all over the city.
Main image: Split of the Lord Mayor and the quays. Pictures by: Alamy.com and RollingNews.ie
