If it wasn't for the presence of so many multistorey car parks in the Grafton Street area, plans to upgrade its often car-dominated pedestrian environment would be much more extensive that what is currently on offer from Dublin City Council.
Maintenance of access routes to these car parks is seen as "essential to the economic life of the area". Accordingly, the Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan proposes merely to "tilt the balance from the visual domination of cars in the area, both parked and moving, to a calmer, more pedestrian-centred streetscape".
This is to be achieved by limiting on-street parking and redistributing the available street space to widen footpaths and narrow carriageways. Altogether, there are 3,500 parking spaces in the area, most of them in multistorey structures such as the ones in Drury Street, the Mansion House, Brown Thomas and St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre.
The plan identifies and analyses the needs of each street and space in the Grafton Street Quarter, and sets out an appropriate design response, “tailored” to reduce clutter and tame cars to not much more than walking pace. It is tied together visually by an integrated and co-ordinated approach.
Despite an overwhelming call, during street conversations with members of the public, for more pedestrianisation, “vehicular access through the street network will largely remain unchanged in the short term”, although the dominance of vehicles will be reduced by removing on-street car parking and widening footpaths with “high-quality paving”.
Despite this commitment, the plan “may allow some pilot schemes to trial temporary pedestrian or traffic street configurations and it may be appropriate in some cases to use basic materials such as concrete paviours or resin bonded aggregate on bitumen surfaces”, a much cheaper treatment that’s already been applied to Fade Street.
Natural stone
In general, however, natural stone would be the principal material for widened footpaths – most likely grey, like the main run on Grafton Street. The programming of works will depend on a range of considerations, including money, but the overall concept “has been agreed in principle by the [still powerful] roads and traffic division”.
As the plan says, "increasing the width of footpaths will require new high-quality paving, and while there will be some [stone] paving of carriageways on vehicle access routes, carriageways will generally be asphalt finished. The pedestrian streets will be fully paved as at present and there will be some increase in the fully paved zones". Council chief executive Owen Keegan said an "important and exciting" aspect of the plan's preparation was the level of engagement with hundreds of people who live, work and shop in the Grafton Street area – and even those who don't, such as some in Blanchardstown who thought it was "snobby" and wouldn't cross the river anyway.
Most people expressed a “fondness” for Grafton Street, even though its retail offer had been “standardised” by too many multiples at the expense of indigenous “Dublin” shops.
And although some complained about amplified busking on the street, the plan would “encourage street performance and entertainment in appropriate locations”.
Under draft bylaws published since the plan was prepared, busking would be permitted in Grafton Street until 1am and there would be no discrimination against buskers using amplifiers, provided they paid an extra licence fee of €60. Unlike in Temple Bar, there is nobody living in Grafton Street, as upper floors are in office, retail or mere storage use.
Despite disruption during its construction phase, the Luas Cross City project “will have significant and long-term benefits for the Grafton Street Quarter”, even though the plan concedes that “there is not enough room on Grafton Street for all the activity that will be generated by the proposed Dublin rail transport projects”.
It reaffirms Dublin City Council's support for the redevelopment of both corners of Dawson Street and Molesworth Street, replacing the "inactive" street frontages of both European Union House and the block opposite, where the Government Publications Office was located.
They would make room, ideally, for stores needing large floorplates.
The plan upholds another long-term objective to create a new pedestrian route linking South Anne Street/Harry Street with South Great George’s Street by cutting through Clarendon Street, South William Street and Drury Street. It also envisages providing more space for temporary markets, such as the Christmas market at Dame Court.
