MacCurtain St Pedestrian Scheme

Need to quickly amend approach to part 8 consultations due to first
covid lockdown.
The scheme went to public consultation in July 2020 given the covid restrictions it was necessary for the first time to carry out full consultation without face-to-face meetings and zoom / teams etc was still very new. It was necessary to amend the approach and to prepare materials for consultation in very short period and again communications directing public to the information became critical. We made use of all means of reaching people given it was summer such as using school principals to relay information to parents, virtual consultation rooms etc. and these systems were then continued during the construction phase to also convey messages about local changes, Traffic management changes etc.

Removal of on street parking
In order to implement the proposed footpath widening, addition of new bus stops etc approx. on streetcar parking spaces needed to be removed. Priority for available space was given to ensuring there was no reduction in disabled parking across the scheme, but the location of some spaces did move. Twenty six, 15-minute set down spaces were introduced to ensure some access to on street parking was maintained and to allow for drop off of school children attending nearby schools.

Moving of privately operated services from city quays
Prior to the scheme all private operated services and tour operators utilised St Patrick’s Quay with no dedicated shelters etc, and this caused congestion as people were dropped off / collected from intercity services. (see location above) The scheme provided for 2 areas on Lower Glanmire Road and Anderson’s Quay. The new facilities needed to be built early on so that the services were not impacted by the traffic management during later phases of construction and in St Patricks quay itself where a 2-way cycle lane was going in.

Introduction of traffic changes
The scheme required the traffic changes to be implemented in phases and there was a significant communications plan around not just the scheme, but around each permanent traffic change too. The plan was communicated through the dedicated website, social media etc using videos to show traffic routing, radio adverts, vms signage and press releases. The challenge was on getting the operators to move as some felt the new locations were inferior to the existing stops and the perception of being further from city centre and any delay to them moving was resulting in a delay to the contractor. All services did move on time however compromise on new location was necessary for one operator.
 

Sequencing of the works to coincide with introduction of significant
traffic changes during quieter periods for traffic flow.
Given that significant traffic changes were being implemented and the public needed to understand access arrangements so the city centre could function. works had to be programmed to ensure that permanent traffic changes created the capacity to divert traffic for the works on Coburg Street and MacCurtain street before introducing the 2 way traffic flows at the end of the construction.
It was also essential that bus infrastructure was not in place in advance of the changing of the services or there would have been pressure to allow cars into the bus lanes under the temporary Traffic management. The design sequence also needed to ensure that buses and general traffic could operate in the interim period where some permanent
changes were in place in parallel with temporary traffic management. The team had benefitted from lessons learnt on the city centre PTI scheme in 2017.
 

Effective Communications

Need for ongoing communications to inform local businesses, commuters, school parents and teachers (approx. 3000, students, primary, second and third level on the streets immediately adjoining the scheme.) and broader messaging to city visitors The systems put in place for the part 8 public consultation were then continued during the construction phase to also convey messages to groups about local changes, traffic management changes etc. Effective Communications A dedicated website , videos on social media , as well as leaflets were distributed to the local properties. All methods of communications described above were continually updated throughout the process and dedicated emails was put in place.

Archaeology, conservation, dangerous structure, impacts of
basements
The scheme was undertaken in a very old part of the city centre, so archaeology and conservation considerations were accounted for in the design but monitoring was present throughout the process in order to best preserve the historical integrity of the area.
We were aware of the presence of basements in Coburg Street and MacCurtain street but as access to some were blocked off and the structural integrity and shape of the basements was a huge challenge. In some cases, the earthen and stone roof of the basements were very close to the existing road surface. The presence of a structural engineer was needed on site on a daily basis while works were being carried out in certain areas. There was also a need for structural surveys on some building as works progressed outside them and some works needed to be undertaken by hand that impacted on work progress.
The presence of the basements also impacted the diversion of services, and this combined with the many existing services in MacCurtain street led to the decision to plant the trees above ground in large containers as it was not possible to plant in ground as had been hoped at design stage.

Interim and final implementation of bus routing changes

 There was a need for ongoing communications with bus Eireann and service operators to agree temporary diversions for bus services during construction and provision of temporary bus stops and when permanent traffic changes were being implemented to ensure new bus turning movements were road tested. These trial runs did result in some tweaking of kerbs, stop lines for general traffic etc over and above what auto track had indicated at- design stage. Again, the communication plan and sharing of comms between ourselves and the route operators was essential in advertising the permanent change to routes, bus tops locations etc.