Today, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced details of the third round of public consultation, of Preferred Route Options for the 16 Core Bus Corridors of BusConnects Dublin.
THIRD PUBLIC CONSULTATION:
This round of public consultation focuses exclusively on the Preferred Route Options for the 16 Core Bus Corridors of BusConnects Dublin. The Core Bus Corridors aims to deliver 230km of bus priority and 200km of cycle lanes/tracks. The consultation period will run from Wednesday November 4th until Wednesday December 16th 2020.
A second round of public consultation on the Preferred Route options commenced in March 2020 and continued until mid-April 2020. Due to the pandemic and Government restrictions, it was decided by the NTA in March that an additional third round of public consultation would take place later in the year to provide further opportunities for the public to review and submit feedback to the latest set of designs.
These proposals are subject to a third non-statutory round of public consultation, and subsequent design refinement and environmental impact assessment, before a formal statutory application will be made by the NTA to An Bord Pleanála for approval during the first quarter of 2021.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, this public consultation will take place using virtual and online facilities. However, potentially impacted property owners will be contacted directly by BusConnects and offered one to one calls with our design team members.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION FACILITIES:
The National Transport Authority, who is responsible for this project is organising a range of public consultation facilities, including:
- Virtual Public Information Rooms – A virtual information room has been created for each of the 16 Core Bus Corridors. These can be accessed through the dedicated BusConnects website at www.busconnects.ie from 12 noon on Wednesday November 4th and will remain open for a six week period. Each virtual room provides details of the Preferred Route Option for each of the corridors including maps and supporting documentation. There will also be an Audio option available for the virtual information room.
- Website – Updated versions of the 16 Core Bus Corridor Brochures will be available to view and download on www.busconnects.ie and additional supporting documentation. The brochures will also be available in HTML, PDF and Audio versions on our website.
- Community Forums – The NTA will carry out a series of Community Forums via online webinars and details of those dates and invitations will be issued to Forum members following today’s launch.
- General queries and Submissions – Submissions and general queries can be sent to the following email address cbc@busconnects.ie or to the NTA postal address. If there are queries that cannot be answered through the information on the website or at the Community Forums, there is a Freephone number 1800 303 653.
CORE BUS CORRIDORS:
I have attached a link to the booklets prepared by the National Transport Authority for this public consultation with regards each of the proposed Core Bus Corridors. These booklets are available at www.BusConnects.ie and contains the following information, including:
- Detailed description of the entire length of the Preferred Route for the Core Bus Corridors.
- Proposed changes contained in this public consultation compared to that which was carried out in March 2020.
- Suggested traffic management alterations as a result of implementing the BusConnects Core Bus Corridors.
HOW YOU CAN HAVE YOUR SAY:
Due to the pandemic and the delayed undertaking of this third public consultation, a formal planning application for each of the BusConnects Core Bus Corridors is now not expected to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála until the second quarter of 2021. Therefore, in order to have your say and ensure that any concerns you may have about the effect or impact of the proposed Core Bus Corridor, I urge you to take part in this final non-statutory public consultation. As I outlined above, you can lodge your submission or observations to the National Transport Authority via email or by post. The details you need are:
- Email: cbc@busconnects.ie.
- Post: BusConnects Core Bus Corridors Consultation, National Transport Authority, Harcourt Lane, Dun Sceine, Dublin 2, D02 WT20.
Remember – you have until December 16th to make your views own, please make sure to avail of this opportunity. I would also welcome your sharing your submission with me. Please send it to me at Paschal.Donohoe@Oir.ie.
Should there be any local or national matter where I can be of help, please contact myself, or Councillors Ray McAdam, Naoise O’Muiri and Colm O’Rourke so that we can assist in whatever way we can.