About the Underground Cable
Regarding the Finglas route through North Wall/ East Wall, East Wall Road is a busy main road, so the routes through CIE/ Irish Rail lands appear to offer a much less disruptive project in this neighbourhood. Further out from the city, routing along the Canal and Finglas/ Tolka park lands would likewise surely provide less disruption to traffic and transport.
Regarding the Inchicore route, it seems plain that the Sundrive Road/ Rathmines option would affect fewer journeys and cause less traffic congestion than the option to run along the South Circular Road.
Cycling infrastructure must be carefully maintained where it exists on roads - If there’s no room for properly segregated cycleways while roads are under construction, I would submit that the project takes over the whole road (allowing footpath and emergency/ disabled access) so contractors can complete works more quickly.
Traffic Management Plans for all Council T2 road-opening licenses must make a high priority of maintaining cycle safety. Recent road works for the Clontarf to City Centre cycleway projects offer good lessons: The single lane allocated to all traffic along North Strand means that a person using a bicycle cannot safely be overtaken by motor vehicle drivers, but dangerous overtaking manoeuvres are often attempted.
I would suggest the project team seeks opportunities to dig through parks rather than roads, where no significant ecological damage would result. This will be quicker and less disruptive to all traffic.
I would submit that all designs must align with and support the published (NTA) Cycle Network Plan and BusConnects CBC plans. Project teams should closely co-ordinate closely with Dublin City Council's Active Travel team.
Thanks to the Eirgrid team for the opportunity to make a submission on this important project.