50 signatures reached
To: Department of Transport, Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Free Dublin land reserved for Eastern Bypass motorway to be used for Housing and Public Transport
We want the Dublin Eastern Bypass motorway to be removed from all future-looking plans. We also want the government or councils to allow some reserved land to be rezoned for housing, and protected lands from Sandyford to Booterstown to be reused for possible Luas spurs or rapid bus corridors.
Why is this important?
The short version: Land in the East Wall and Booterstown areas of Dublin is reserved for a hypothetical Eastern Bypass motorway (one with extremely negative environmental consequences). Dublin City Council want to rezone the East Wall land for housing. The Booterstown corridor could be used as a public transport corridor instead. But the Eastern Bypass' status in national planning documents means both of those critical needs are being blocked. We want the government and relevant authorities to change this by admitting that the Eastern Bypass is a permanently dead project, removing it from planning, and allowing the land to be used for something worthwhile.
Long version:
Dublin's Eastern Bypass was always a massive environmental issue — it is planned to be built across Sandymount Strand to provide an extension of the M50 motorway, for very limited benefit.
The construction of this motorway is now also likely illegal under Irish government climate objectives and obligations, just as the 3rd Heathrow runway in the UK was recently declared to be illegal.
Ireland is already likely to face fines because of our failure to reduce emissions, and the expansion of car usage is absolutely at odds with that target.
The reserved space for the Eastern Bypass is also now blocking the construction of housing in Dublin city by preventing rezoning, as outlined in the Irish Times: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/housing-plan-in-dublin-halted-to-facilitate-eastern-bypass-1.4189623
The Eastern Bypass is extremely unlikely to ever be built — the environmental consequences of the proposed road alone massively outweigh the very minor benefits it might bring to car drivers. It has been kicked around for 50 years with truly minimal progress. It is so politically, fiscally, environmentally, and socially toxic that it almost 100% guarantees no government will ever even try to build it.
So why are we continuing to retain it in our plans and therefore stop the reserved land being freed up?
That reserved land is, at this point, merely blocking other types of useful development to facilitate a dead project. Most outrageously, the reserved land is also preventing the construction of homes in a housing crisis (as seen in the Irish Times article linked above).
Most of the reserved land on the Sandyford to Booterstown alignment would be absolutely ideal for use in constructing a high-quality rapid bus corridor (connecting the Luas and the DART), or providing the space for a Luas spur that could serve countless new homes and the students of UCD.
The Irish government, Dublin City Council, and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council must immediately work to remove this outdated, unwanted project from their plans, and allow the land to be reused.