Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

More documents

Recommendations

Info

South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade Environmental Impact Statement Arup Consulting Engineers A small derelict parcel of land located adjacent to the south-west corner of the crossroads, now overgrown with invasive vegetation, emphasises the low level of visual amenity at the junction. The junction is visually dominated by the Bewley's Hotel development with its ‘clock tower’ block facing onto the N7, illustrated in Plates 3.5 and 3.6. The other primary elements of visual significance are the existing light standards along the N7 road corridor and the high volumes of traffic which regularly backs up at the junction. This is illustrated in Plates 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4. There are areas with a higher level of visual amenity in the adjacent area such as the open spaces to the north-east, the open space to the west and the Newlands Golf Course to the south west. While further to the north-west is the high visual amenity area of Corkagh Demesne. Views toward the existing route corridor are confined to short distance views from the Fonthill Road, the Belgard Road and along the N7 corridor itself from the east and the west. There are views towards the site from a small portion of Newlands Golf Course. There are also views towards the road corridor from Bewley's Hotel and the car showrooms to the north-west, the upper floors of the Lynch Green Isle Hotel to the west and from the office development, car showrooms and the housing fronting onto the N7 to the north-east. Visual Analysis is illustrated in Figure 7.6. 7.4 Predicted Impacts 7.4.1 Characteristics of the Proposal The proposed upgrade to the N7 Newlands Cross junction will take in approximately 1.8 km of roadway resulting in a bridge being formed over the existing road junction with the Belgard / Fonthill Road (R113) remaining at existing grade and passing underneath the bridge. The overpass will be along the existing N7 road corridor which is an east – west alignment. The highest level of the proposed overpass will be approximately 9 metres over existing ground levels. The construction will be of pre-cast concrete beams supporting an in-situ concrete deck slab. The approach embankments will be constructed using reinforced earth and facing panels. Other elements that will form part of the completed scheme will include: • Lighting • Signage • Crash barriers • Noise barriers • Landscape planting / visual buffering Construction of the proposed grade separated junction will take up to two years to complete. It is proposed to relocate the existing gas pipeline AGI to one of two possible locations identified within the permanent land-take area as follows: 1. on the derelict area of land adjacent to the south east corner of the existing junction. 2. on a portion of the agricultural land immediately to the south of the existing gas works building. December 2007 Page 109
South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade Environmental Impact Statement Arup Consulting Engineers These locations are depicted in Figures 4.1 – 4.5 (Chapter 4). It should also be noted that the final design for some of the elements may alter, with the worst case scenario considered in this report, for example the noise barriers have been assessed as solid barriers, however in the final design they may be transparent which will offer a less significant visual impact. 7.4.2 Construction Impacts 7.4.2.1 Visual Impacts During the construction stage the works will have a significant and negative visual impact. The impact will be caused by the following elements associated with construction work: • Removal of existing tree planting / vegetation • Dusting • Construction Traffic • Site Huts • Building materials • Ground Disturbance • Site Hoarding/ Security Fencing • Construction Work/ Cranes The visual impacts due to construction will be short term and will terminate upon completion of the development. 7.4.2.2 Landscape Impacts The landscape impact during the construction phase will be significant and negative. The impact will be caused by the removal of the existing trees along the median to the east of the junction as well as the removal of existing vegetation as necessary as part of the land take for the development. The landscape character of the area will also alter during the construction phase in that the existing landscape character of the road corridor will become a construction site. 7.4.3 Operational Impacts 7.4.3.1 Impacts of the Proposed Development In visual/landscape terms the proposed development will impact in varying degrees upon three inter-related aspects as follows: 1) The perceived character of the area 2) Impact on the existing views 3) Its visual amenity 7.4.3.2 Perceived Character Existing The character of the existing road corridor is generally seen as a necessary element of infrastructure to cater for the volumes of traffic that exist at present. The associated elements of a National Primary Route i.e. signage, lighting, road markings, crash barriers etc. are also seen as an integral part of a road corridor landscape of this type. December 2007 Page 110
Page 1 and 2:
Kildare County Council South Dublin
Page 4:
South Dublin County Council N7 Newl
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96: South Dublin County Council N7 Newl
Page 145: South Dublin County Council N7 Newl
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242:
Page 243 and 244:
Page 245 and 246:
Page 247 and 248:
Page 249 and 250:
Page 251 and 252:
Page 253 and 254:
Page 255 and 256:
Page 257 and 258:
Page 259 and 260:
Page 261 and 262:
Page 263 and 264:
Page 265 and 266:
Page 267 and 268:
Page 269 and 270:
Page 271 and 272:
Page 273 and 274:
Page 275 and 276:
Page 277 and 278:
Page 279 and 280:
Page 281 and 282:
Page 283 and 284:
Page 285 and 286:
Page 288:
PLATES
Page 292:
APPENDIX A5 - TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT
Page 295 and 296:
South Dublin County Council Newland
Page 297 and 298:
Page 299 and 300:
Page 301 and 302:
Page 304 and 305:
Page 306 and 307:
Page 308 and 309:
Page 310 and 311:
0 kilometres 2 Scale N.T.S Ordnance
Page 312 and 313:
Page 314 and 315:
Page 316 and 317:
Page 318 and 319:
Page 320 and 321:
Page 322:
APPENDIX A8 - NOISE AND VIBRATION
Page 326:
APPENDIX A9 - AIR QUALITY
Page 329 and 330:
Page 331 and 332:
Page 334:
APPENDIX A11 - ECOLOGY
Page 337 and 338:
Page 340:
APPENDIX A12 - ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHITE
Page 343 and 344:
Page 345 and 346:
Page 347 and 348:
Page 349 and 350:
Page 351 and 352:
Page 353 and 354:
Page 355 and 356:
Page 357 and 358:
Page 360 and 361:
Page 362 and 363:
Page 364:
show all

Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?