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There is a large increase in the number of trees to be felled in the latest scheme for the bus corridors in Dublin.
However, the National Transportation Authority says the new plan will save most of the mature trees in residential areas of the city.
The bus corridor plan will be carried out in a third round of public consultations and now more than 3,000 trees will be felled as part of the plans for 16 bus corridors and bike lanes, a 20% increase from the previous plan.
However, the NTA says this involves less mature trees and most of the iconic trees in areas like Rathgar, Ballsbridge, Finglas and Glasnevin will remain.
But the number of trees to be felled in the Lucan corridor would be 455 and hundreds of them would give way to a bike path on the floor of the Hermitage Golf Club.
Other sections that involve the felling of hundreds of less mature trees would be the N3 and near Shankhill.
New proposals include a new bus gate at St Stephen’s Green to create an exclusive bus and bike section on Lower Leeson Street.
The goal of the project, which is part of Bus Connects, is to provide 230 km of dedicated bus lanes and 200 km of cycle lanes on 16 of the busiest bus corridors.
The original proposal was to be part of 1,300 front gardens and cut 1,000 trees along the routes to create space for two-lane bus and bicycle lanes along with two car lanes.
However, after a negative response from many groups of residents, there were 13,000 submissions during the first round of consultations, the NTA has proposed more restrictions for cars instead of widening the roads.
This will be accomplished through bus gates, one-way systems, and bus priority at traffic lights.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the government is committed to a fundamental change in the transport system.
“Sustainable modes of travel such as cycling, walking and public transport have enormous potential to facilitate a large part of our daily trips, but only if we provide the right environment that protects and prioritizes this mode of travel,” he said.
The authority had planned to have a planning app ready by the end of this year, but this has been delayed due to Covid 19 and is now expected next March.
The routes that are planned to be completed in stages by 2027 are:
Clongriffin to the city center
Swords to the city center
Ballymun to the city center
Finglas to Phibsborough
Blanchardstown to Downtown
Lucan to the city center
Liffey Valley to Downtown
Clondalkin to Drimnagh
Greenhills to Downtown
Kimmage to the city center
Tallaght to Terenure
Rathfarnham to city center
Bray to downtown
UCD / Ballsbridge to Downtown
Blackrock to Merrion
Ringsend to the city center
The NTA is using ‘virtual rooms’ for consultations and these will be available later today.
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