Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade
Environmental Impact Statement
Arup Consulting Engineers
the Roadstone lands, coming north towards the junction is the entrance to Newlands Golf
Club.
3.4 Existing Junction Layout
Figure 3.2 shows the existing junction layout. Over the last number of years the Naas Road
has been widened to three lanes plus hard shoulders from Naas to Newland Cross. Between
Newland Cross and the Red Cow there are three lanes inbound and three lanes and a bus lane
outbound.
All movements at Newland cross are permitted and signalised. Pedestrians are permitted to
traverse across the northern, eastern and southern approaches. No facility is provided for
pedestrians traversing across the western approach.
Separate right turn stages are provided for eastbound and westbound N7 right turns. During
the AM Peak the junction operates with 5 stages, one of which allows both N7 right turns to
run concurrently and one of which allows the N7 westbound traffic to turn right whilst the
straight ahead movements simultaneously occur. The westbound right turn lane is a single
turning lane whereas the eastbound right turn lane is a dual turning lane. There are 3 through
lanes with a short left turn filter lane in each direction along the N7.
The southbound Fonthill approach comprises of two through lanes, a right turn lane and a
short left turn filter lane. The northbound Belgard approach provides for one through lane, a
shared through/right turn lane, a right turn lane and a short left turn slip lane. The Fonthill
Road approach and Belgard approaches are facilitated in different signal stages.
3.5 Alternatives Considered
3.5.1 Introduction
This section presents the options which were developed for consideration in order to meet the
stated objectives of the scheme.
The ‘Do-Minimum’ Option assumes that the Newlands Cross Interchange is not upgraded to a
grade separated junction i.e. that the existing N7 Mainline and Belgard / Fonthill Road (R113)
would remain at the level at which they are currently.
Under this option the existing residential, commercial and amenity areas and planned local
development would be serviced by the existing road network and public transport provision
while also remaining as a Transportation Corridor linking the Metropolitan areas of the
Greater Dublin and Mid-East Regions with the Metropolitan areas of Limerick and Cork.
The ‘Do-Minimum’ Option is likely to lead to increasingly significant pressure on the existing
road and regional road network and would limit the development capacity of the local area.
Once the Red Cow Roundabout is upgraded as part of the M50 Widening, the existing
junction layout would also pose a significant constraint on what is a major national road
upgraded to a high quality.
Further, the existing junction is not considered to have sufficient capacity to accommodate
future traffic flow or planned development requirements
The ‘Do-Minimum’ Option is therefore not considered viable for the continued development
of the Newlands Cross area.
Consideration was also given to alternatives to upgrading the N7. Assuming that the Do
Minimum Option is not acceptable i.e. that additional transportation capacity is needed along
this corridor, these alternatives include the provision of increased public transport capacity to
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