Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade
Environmental Impact Statement
Arup Consulting Engineers
13.2.1.1 Treatment of Impacts
Impacts can be Positive, Negative or Neutral. Their significance is assigned as Imperceptible,
Slight, Moderate, Significant and Profound. Significance depends, among other
considerations, on the nature of the environment affected, the duration of an impact, and the
probability of its occurrence. It often follows that impacts of a socio-economic nature are a
function of:
a) the scale of the impact itself,
b) the numbers of people likely to be affected, and
c) the impact on vulnerable or sensitive groups.
A study of socio-economic impacts generally addresses impacts at the community level rather
than for individuals or identifiable properties. Impacts are presented as they would affect the
most affected subset of the population, although clarification is provided in both the text and
the summary table (see Appendix A13.1) as to the absolute numbers affected. The assessment
of impacts at a local level has focused on the communities adjacent to, or in the general
environs of, the Scheme. Particular emphasis has been given to the impacts on local vehicle
journeys, pedestrians, cyclists and local residents in terms of the following four headings:
• Journey characteristics: an assessment of the impact of the proposed route on journey
time, journey time reliability and travel patterns.
• Community severance: an assessment of the impact of the proposed route with regard to
community severance, including impacts on the use of community facilities, particularly
those used by older people, children or other vulnerable groups. The category includes
both new severance and relief from existing severance.
• Amenity: An assessment of the impact on journey amenity arising from traffic conditions
and people’s exposure to traffic (i.e. safety, noise, dirt, air quality). The category also
includes impacts on sites used for amenity purposes and general impacts on local quality
of life.
• Economic impacts: an evaluation of the proposed interchange in the context of economic
prospects and employment.
13.2.1.2 Journey Characteristics
New roads have an inevitable effect on local journey patterns, length and duration for vehicle
journeys, journeys by public transport, bicycle and for pedestrians. Each is discussed in turn
in the report.
Assessment of journey patterns, length and duration is inevitably dependent on precisely
where an individual journey originates and ends, when it is undertaken (e.g. within or outside
peak hours) and by whom it is undertaken, e.g. vulnerable groups. Impacts have been
assessed in accordance with the significance criteria outlined in Table 13.1, with positive
impacts resulting from a decrease, and negative impacts resulting from an increase in journey
length or duration.
December 2007 Page 202