Construction of Liffey Street plaza is beginning this month
Image: Dublin City Council
Construction of Liffey Street plaza is beginning this month
Words: Ellen Kenny
Work on Liffey Street was delayed due to the current ongoing building of a hotel on the same street.
Dublin City Council (DCC) has confirmed that the construction of a plaza beside the Ha’penny Bridge on Liffey Street will begin at the end of this month following delays.
Construction was due to begin on January 9, but was delayed due to unexpected delays to the completion of Motel One, which was due to open at the end of December.
Liffey Street will be closed to traffic between Strand Street and the quays following this redevelopment. The remainder of Liffey Street Lower and all of Liffey Street Upper, which runs from Abbey Street to Henry Street, will be upgraded to create a more “pedestrian-friendly” environment, with benches, bicycle stands and trees.
According to a statement from DCC, “a high quality design is being utilised to improve the ambiance of the street, with increased greening and wider footpaths creating a quality space to be enjoyed by all”.
Liffey Street, Upper and Lower, experiences around 30,000 pedestrians and some 2,500 vehicles per day, according to the council, and “provides an important link between the north and south city centre shopping and tourist precincts”.
“The proposed works will involve a full upgrade of the footpaths and carriageway at this location. The footpaths will be widened and repaved in granite, and notable new planting will be included to match those already introduced in other recently completed city centre streets.”
The creation of the plaza will mean traffic on Abbey Street, including cars exiting the Arnotts car park, will no longer be able to access the quays via Liffey Street Lower, but will have to turn right on to Strand Street and continue to Capel Street to reach the quays at Grattan Bridge. While most of Capel Street has been made car free, the area between Strand Street and the river Liffey has been kept open to traffic to facilitate the plaza.
The work is expected to begin on January 23 and will be completed by the end of next year. DCC have said they will ensure that pedestrians and one-way traffic along the quays will not be disturbed by construction.
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