Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade
Environmental Impact Statement
Arup Consulting Engineers
Further out, the Outer Ring Road carries traffic between N7 and Lucan. The route
provides a further (partial) orbital alternative for local traffic and it will shortly link to the
N81 in Tallaght. However, even once this connection is complete, the amount of
businesses and homes in the Newlands catchment area will ensure that there will continue
to be a high volume of traffic on other connecting roads such as the Belgard / Fonthill
Road (R113).
The existing Newlands Cross junction features signalised crossings on the south and east
sides. There is also a moderate level of cyclist traffic with cycle lanes provided on the
Belgard Road southbound, the N7 eastbound and ‘off road’ on the N7 westbound. By
comparison, there are few pedestrian crossings given the absence of much housing,
community facilities or employment in the area immediately south of the Naas Road. The
westbound bus stop on the west side of the junction provides one of the main reasons for
pedestrian crossing movements of the road at this location. Bus users alighting from
(arriving at) the stop who are heading to (arriving from) Clondalkin must cross both
Belgard Road and the Naas Road via five sets of lights (six if they are heading to the west
side of the Fonthill Road). Although a few of these crossings involve single lane slip
roads, the waiting time is inevitably long. Most pedestrians observed during the fieldwork
for this report did not wait for each light change and a few crossed on the west side of
Newlands Cross where there is no signalised crossing at all.
As described in figure 13.1 a count of the number of pedestrian and cyclist crossing was
undertaken for the report. The number of pedestrian crossing of the Naas Road ranged
from 7 individuals within half an hour at mid-afternoon on a weekday, to 13 between 8.15
and 9.15 in the morning (i.e. roughly the same). The number of cyclist crossing was
substantially greater during the same morning period at 33 compared with 6 during the
mid-afternoon period. Enquiries of pedestrians indicated that journeys, other than those to
the bus stop, are largely associated with local employment, for example in Bewley’s
Hotel, or with other employers in Tallaght. Of vulnerable groups, no children, and only
one person of retirement age were witnessed crossing the road.
Table 13.5 Number of crossings (8.15-9.15 on 31 Oct 2007)
Ro Directionsn
No
Route Cyclists PedestriansPedes
1 South Fonthill to Belgard 23 (1 to west, 8 toward 4 (2 onto bus stop)
crossing)
Cow),
2 North Belgard to Fonthill (sign
crossing)
6 (all using crossing to
turn right, none on
road)
3 East East across Fonthill Roa 4 (using road) 6
4 West West across Belgard Ro
5 North Belgard to Fonthill (wes 1 (using road)
6 South Fonthill to Belgard
(east side)
7 East to
South
8 South to east
east
4 (2 towards Red
Cow)
4 (all from bus
stop)
3 (using road) 1 (excluding route
1 (but on wrong side of
road)
N7 from Red Cow to Be 4 (using road)
Belgard to N7 to Red Co 2 (using road) 0
1 (in front of traffic
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