Grangegorman Filtered Permeability to be made permanent

I am delighted to confirm that the Grangegorman “filtered permeability” project will be retained permanently. The project was voted on at today’s Central Area Committee and was supported by the majority of the Councillors.

This project is an important step in the right direction of traffic-calmed inner city streets, safer walking and cycling, cleaner air and an improved public realm which will benefit us all but most especially children.

Big thanks is due to everyone who made a submission and engaged with Councillors and the Council engineers about this project. It is so important that politicians understand the demand from their constituents for this kind of community-level climate action.

There are some concerns that will remain about the impact of the project - particularly on surrounding streets. I will continue to do my best to work with residents to address these issues as we keep taking steps forward for safer streets for the whole of the North Inner City.

Some key reasons why this project matters:

• Walking or cycling safely to school is so important and makes a significant positive impact on their mental and physical health
• Congestion: Before Covid, Dublin was the 6th most congested city in Europe costing us all health, time and money. Projects like this are simple, cheap and effective ways of tackling congestion by providing safe alternatives
• Public health: air pollution causes over 1500 premature deaths a year in Ireland and is known to exacerbate COVID-19. Air pollution is particularly toxic in our inner city areas. We cannot tackle this without providing safe alternative to private car use.
• Safer Streets: speeds of over 60kph were recorded on this street in spite of the 30kph speed limit. This is totally unacceptable and unsafe on a residential street with several schools, a university in the surrounds.

Next Steps:

• Push for the full implementation of an upgraded pedestrian plaza at the Grangegorman clock tower
• Continue to address any concerns as they may arise with the current arrangement to ensure that the project is as comfortable and safe as possible for as many people as possible
• Work with residents to identify other projects to improve the safety and useability of the streets across the North Inner City area