Dublin Cycling Campaign made the submission below earlier today to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council in respect to the consultation process on the Draft Dundrum Local Area Plan. Details of the LAP can be read here - https://www.dlrcoco.ie/dundrumlap.

1 – Introduction
Dublin Cycling Campaign is a registered charity (RCN 20102029) that has been advocating for improved cycling conditions in the four Dublin Local Authority areas since 1993. The Campaign is a member of Cyclist.ie - the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, which advocates at a national level and countrywide for improved cycling conditions (see https://cyclist.ie/), and which itself is the member for Ireland of the European Cyclists’ Federation (see https://ecf.com/). We want to make Dublin a safe and friendly place for everyone, of all ages and abilities, to cycle and walk.

Dublin Cycling Campaign (DCC) is pleased to have the opportunity to make this submission on the 2023 Dundrum Local Area Plan (LAP), and on the documentation available on these pages - https://dlrcoco.ie/dundrumlap. We focus our short submission mainly on the transportation elements of the plan but also comment on some other higher level objectives as well.

2 - Higher Level Objectives and Background to our Submission
We support the broad vision of the Dundrum LAP as expressed in the six high level objectives underpinning the draft plan. In particular, we strongly support the 10 minute neighbourhood concept whereby most of the amenities required by residents are available within a 10 minute walk or cycle from one’s home.

The overarching theme of our submission is that the development of the Dundrum area over the coming decade or so needs to happen with walking, cycling and high quality public transport at its very heart. The area will simply grind to a halt and the quality of life will diminish for all if car driving is prioritised thus allowing car trips to continue to grow. If car trip numbers increase further, there will be an ever continuous pressure to make already expansive and noisy road junctions even wider, and less safe and more unpleasant for those on two feet or two wheels. Instead, we need to look to a future where owning a car and using it on a daily basis is neither desirable nor necessary – not desirable because every car on the road adds to congestion, emissions and finite resource use (even if electric), and not necessary because Dundrum will have a top class walking and cycling environment, and public transport system.

We note here that Dublin Cycling Campaign has had concerns with the poor quality of the cycling environment at the Dundrum Bypass / Dundrum Road / Taney Road junction for over 20 years [1]. However, we have warmly applauded the more recent interventions on Dundrum Main Street in making it one way for motorised traffic, but two-way for people on bikes.

We also welcome the “Traffic Calming” objectives included in section 9.1, while highlighting the need for such traffic calming measures to be used more broadly to ensure the “natural speed limit” of roads aligns with their respective legal speed limit. Furthermore, we would like to see the LAP include an extensive rollout of 30kp/h speed limits to all residential areas.

3 – Transport Elements of the Plan
We comment here on pages 47-56 of the main plan document.

We note the broader policy context within which this draft LAP sits, with all of the current plans and policy docs requiring that we reduce transport emissions as a matter of urgency and prioritise sustainable transport interventions – e.g. Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, 2022-2042; 2022 Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan; 2022 National Sustainable Mobility Policy; DLR County Development Plan 2022 – 2028. We add here that the most recently published EPA data shows a rise in transport emissions by 6% between 2021 and 2022 [2].

We broadly support the proposed traffic interventions as set out in this chapter of the LAP. We particularly welcome the focus on filtered permeability interventions, high quality dedicated space for people walking and for people cycling, and the focus on integrated public transport and the development of mobility hubs.

We highlight here some more specific points at particular locations:

Dundrum Cross:
We support the proposals for Dundrum Cross (Junction of Main St, Ballinteer Rd, Sandyford Rd & Kilmacud Rd Upper).

Taney Cross junction:
We strongly support the proposed changes to the Taney Cross junction, in particular the removal of the slip lanes for motor traffic which have made this location a particularly hostile junction for pedestrians for the last 20 years. We warmly welcome the reallocation of carriageway space to people on foot. We highlight here the need for a much wider footpath outside of the Vincents’ shop at the north east corner of the Taney Junction (which, typically, an older cohort of the population frequent). We note the need for a careful and high quality design of the (reconfigured) cycle tracks in the vicinity of this junction given the topography of the area, and the current very unsatisfactory overly close mixing of pedestrians and cyclists on some of the approach arms to the junction.

North Sandyford Road:
We note here that the design of Overend Avenue is incredibly car orientated with an expansive junction with the Kilmacud Road Upper. This excessively motor oriented design is a hostile environment for people on foot and on bike, and it needs to be reconfigured. We welcome the following objectives here:
- Provide a two-way segregated cycle track on Sandyford Road from the junction with Overend Avenue to the entrance to the Riversdale Apartments.
- Reduce carriageway widths, widen footpaths and provide public realm improvements to reinforce North Sandyford Road’s place as a town centre street and encourage slower vehicle speeds.
- Create a school zone and safe access route for pedestrians and cyclists to Holy Cross National School via the Dom Marmion car park.

Objective T21 – Dodder to Dundrum Pedestrian and Cycle Route:
We strongly support the objective of the Local Area Plan to create a new pedestrian and cycle route connecting the Dodder Greenway to Dundrum Major Town Centre via the site of the former Dundrum Central Mental Hospital.

Bike Parking:
We highlight the need for well-located, high quality, secure and attractive bicycle parking facilities to be provided at all destinations as specific elements of the plan develop – and that these should include space for cargo bikes/trikes to encourage family cycling and e-cycle logistics.

4 – Conclusion
Dublin Cycling Campaign commends Dun Laoghaire Rathdown on the development of the Dundrum LAP. We support the high level objectives of the plan and particularly the 10 minute neighbourhood concept. We also broadly support the main transport proposals in the draft plan. We look forward to re-engaging with the Council as particular elements of the plan are further developed.

References:
[1] Our 2002 submission - https://www.dublincycling.com/cycling/archives-2002-campaign-submission-…
[2] https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring–assessment/climate-change/gh…