After three years of a car-free Capel Street, central area councillors have expressed a broad consensus that it has been a massive success with only some limited issues.
A written report presented to councillors outlines that work on Phase 2 of the interim measures on Capel Street commenced in September 2024 and is due to be completed in Q2 2025. The council said that these works include additional build-outs, resin-bound surfacing, seating and planting in the ground as well as in planters.
It also said that the “junctions at Capel Street/Abbey Street are being tightened up and providing additional pedestrian space and reducing the crossing distance across the Luas lines”.
Later in the year, the street will be better linked with Parliament Street, directly across the River Liffey, which is to be made car-free as part of the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan.
Claire French, a senior executive engineer with Dublin City Council’s transport section, said the council hopes to finish the interim works by Easter.
French said: “We’re coming up to three years since the traffic management measures were put in place [on/around Capel Street]. For us, it is working very well in terms of traffic, and it has increased the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists on the street.”
“We haven’t seen any increase in vehicles on the main streets around Capel Street, and we have seen a massive drop in vehicles on the surrounding residential streets,” she said.
She estimated that there had been around 3 million fewer vehicle trips made on the residential streets around Capel Street, which she said was “a big win for that area”.
But Cllr Christy Burke (independent) — who started by saying, “I’m all for pedestrianisation” — claimed that traffic on Beresford Street, North King Street and Church Street had increased and linked this to making Capel Street car-free.
It’s unclear how traffic has increased on those streets, but the council is planning a survey to compare before and after data. The street was first made a motor traffic-free street during Covid on a time-limited basis and then made permanent in 2022, with access for deliveries between 6am and 11am.
Since then, Ireland reached full employment in 2023, which was reported as the highest level since records began in 1998, and there have been reports of increased traffic as many companies reduced or removed the option of working from home.
Cllr Burke highlighted issues with HGVs on Beresford Street, where they are banned, and said that Gardaí have had to be called to enforce the truck restrictions on the street. Truck access to food distributors in the Markets area between Church Street and Capel Street has been a long-running issue.
“At the end of the day, I’m speaking on behalf of the residents Chair, not my view point-of-view, but the residents who have made it very clear that between King Street, Beresford Street and Church Street, there has been an overflow,” he said.
He said: “I take it passionately when I’m contacted by residents’ groups… whether people like it or not, that’s what they are saying,” he said.
Cllr Burke welcomed the fact that Capel Street is going well but said he does not welcome what he called the impact on “a very settled community”.
He added that the central area committee of councillors should look for the enforcement by the Gardaí to continue, and while he’s not expecting it to happen every day, some random enforcement would make HGV drivers aware.
Cllr Janice Boylan (Sinn Féin) said: “The scheme is going well, and the facts are presented to us there, and we can’t deny it. But there are people in the surrounding areas who need to feel like they’re being listened to.”
She said the issue was the flow of traffic going through the areas mentioned by Cllr Burke, and a traffic reduction is “certainly not what the feeling is of the residents” on those streets.
Cllr Boylan added: “We don’t acknowledge that the people that are actually living in these areas are the ones that are suffering when everybody else who lives outside is actually getting the benefit of it, so I’d like that to be acknowledged.”
Claire French, a senior executive engineer with Dublin City Council’s transport section, said: “On the the traffic in the surrounding streets — Beresford Street, Church Street and North King Street are all going to be included in our three-year traffic count.”
“We have the pre-implementation data from three and a half years ago so when I get that, I’ll summarise it, and I’ll issue it to yourself. So then at least you have actual statistical data of what change has been on those streets,” she said.
French added: “And if there is an issue, it’ll identify it, and then we can look at what we need to do there.”
Cllr Cat O’Driscoll (SocDems) said: “But I think this is a great success, much like the Grangegorman filtered permeability — things can be difficult to make the decision on, but once they’ve embedded in you see [the improvment]. The air tastes better on Capel Street than in other parts of the city.”
She added: “We just need to be able to make these bold moves and implement them as efficiently as this.”
Cllr Feljin Jose (Green Party) said: “Are there any plans to carry out works after this phase, beyond Q2 2025? At the bottom of the street, you have PantiBar, especially.”
Cllr Ray McAdam (Fine Gael) said: “The success of Capel Street at the moment is largely down to the hard work of a number of individuals including Claire, Deirdre, Catherine Brophy Walsh — the level of engagement with businesses on the street, that one-to-one engagement, has actually helped to bring people with us. That point cannot be underscored enough today.”
He welcomed the reduction in alcohol branding on the street but said there were some issues with the way motorists were driving around Capel Street.
He said that the Markets Area plan, which covers an area directly west of Capel Street, seems to have “died a death” when it also includes traffic management which should improve the issues raised by other councillors.
Cllr Janet Horner (Green Party) said that it would be useful for the council to have an overview of what that plan is for the street to be able to inform members of the public.
She said that there are still more vacant units on the street than she would be happy with, but it has been great that the street has become a “destination street” and thanked the officials.
French said: “Beyond 2025…. at that stage, I suppose the project will stop being a traffic scheme, and hopefully it will be incorporated into our public realm [renewal programme] to get a full scheme, but there’s no timelines there’s no funding, and it’s not on a list so I couldn’t tell you when that’s going to be.”
“I think the engagements have worked very well, and anytime there’s a query, one of our team always goes out and meets them and that has moved the project along well.”
French said: “Hopefully, we’re advancing Parliament Street this summer as well to tie into it and link the two streets both visually and in terms of walking and cycling.”
She added: “I’m just want to say thanks to all the councillors for our support over the years it’s been immensely helpful, and I think we’ve all benefited from it, so thanks very much.”
MAIN IMAGE: From Dublin City Council.