College Green will be closed to traffic on three separate days over the summer to trial the proposed redevelopment of the space as a pedestrian-only plaza.
A tweet today from Dublin Chamber – the representative organisation for businesses in the Dublin area – confirmed that College Green would be off-limits on three consecutive Sundays – July 21st, July 28th and August 4th.
A number of family events will be held on these days to gauge the feasibility and popularity of the plaza, which was denied planning permission in November 2018 due to concerns over potentially “significant adverse impacts on pedestrians and on bus transport within the city centre”.
But Dublin City Council announced in January that the 7,300 square metre space would be accessible to pedestrians only between 7am and 7pm for a number of days in July and August.
The city council originally applied for planning permission for the €10 million development in July 2017. If approved, the plan would see a total ban on private cars accessing Dame St through College Green, as well as restricting the number of buses using the route.
Dublin Bus has called the plans “socially regressive”, while An Bord Pleanála said the impact on bus services in the city centre would likely be “significantly negative”.
In April, Dublin City Council said it intended to apply for planning permission again, with the plans unlikely to change from the original proposal.
Speaking to the Irish Times, the council’s head of traffic management, Brendan O’Brien, said that the issues that the Board had with the proposal “were the knock-on consequences of the plaza rather than anything to do with the plaza itself”.
The new application will include additional information on bus usage in the city, such as where passengers alight buses. It will also have more detailed information on the Bus Connects project, the redesign of the Dublin Bus network.
Trinity, which faces out onto College Green, has been closely consulted by planners since the beginning of the project.
In September 2017, information obtained by The University Times under a freedom of information request revealed that College had a number of concerns about the new space, including stress on its facilities and a risk of flooding.
Speaking to The University Times at the time, Veronica Campbell, the College Bursar, said that Trinity is trying to find “a balance between the use and the aesthetics of the College plaza”.
The council’s plans for the plaza include the construction of new cycle routes and the repositioning of existing statues in College Green. Trees and benches are to be installed in the space, as well as a new water structure.
