Summary
The Clontarf to City Centre Active Travel Project is a transformative project for Dublin’s North East Inner City (NEIC). The €71 million scheme provides high quality walking, cycling and bus infrastructure along a 2.7km route that extends from Clontarf Road, at the junction with Alfie Byrne Road, to Amiens Street, at the junction with Talbot Street. The project was led by Dublin City Council and funded by the National Transport Authority.
ROD worked continuously on the project from 2017, finalising the preliminary design, preparing the detailed design and contract documents, supervising and administering the construction contract, and providing general support to the council. The main contractor was Clonmel Enterprises Ltd, with CSR Land Planning and Design serving as landscape architect and Kevin Cleary as public lighting designer.
The project was officially opened on 28 November 2024 following a 30-month construction stage.
This project will not only enhance walking and cycling and public transport in the city but also support Ireland’s broader transport and environmental objectives.
Anne Graham
CEO, National Transport Authority
Project aims
- Provide high quality, continuous, protected cycling facilities to meet existing and future demand
- Deliver street improvements by reconstructing all footpaths along the route, creating eight community plazas and contributing to improved greening through new tree planting and delivery of soft landscaping
- Provide safe and accessible pedestrian and cycle links from Marino to Fairview Park, making Fairview Park accessible for all
- Provide a new pedestrian walkway in Fairview Park
- Provide a section of the Tolka Valley Greenway from Annesley Bridge to Alfie Byrne Road
- Deliver improved pedestrian facilities by upgrading footpaths and installing additional pedestrian crossings along the entire corridor
- Improve bus journey times and reliability
- Contribute to a reduction in transport emissions in line with the objectives of the Climate Action Plan by encouraging a modal shift to active travel and public transport use
- Replace approximately 6km of 100-year-old, large watermain pipes
Challenge
The main challenge for the design team lay in balancing the needs of the road corridor with those of the local community. By working closely with Dublin City Council and CSR Landscape Architects, we achieved a scheme that re-establishes the connection between the Fairview/Marino residents and their park to the east while addressing the planning conditions for segregation between road users.
Solution
- 8km of upgraded pedestrian walkways
- 6.8km of new and upgraded cycle lanes
- 5.4km of upgraded bus lanes
- Nine major junction upgrades
- Three upgraded and two new pedestrian crossings
- 14 upgraded bus stops
- Over 280 new public lighting columns with energy efficient LED fittings
- 6.5km of century-old water mains replaced
- 26km network of utilities for traffic, public lighting and ESB
- Eight community plazas
- Significant greening that includes over 100 trees planted, sustainable urban drainage (SuDS) and 50 new planted areas, with over 4,600 shrubs and hedges
- 425m section of Tolka Valley Greenway delivered
- 80+ new bike stands
- 81 parking bays
- 34 side roads with continuous footpaths
- 60,000m2 of new/upgraded road surfacing, including 13,000m2 of cycle lanes and 47,000m2 for vehicle lanes
- 26,000m2 of high-quality footpaths
- Circa 2.5km of rainwater (surface-water) drainage pipelines
Services provided:
- Civil and structural engineering design
- Preliminary design
- Detailed design
- Tender documents
- Contract administration
- Contract supervision
