Construction work is about to start on the new one kilometre Ballymun Main Street, part of Dublin Corporation's Ballymun regeneration project.

The company in charge of the redevelopment, Ballymun Regeneration, has appointed contractors PJ Carey to start building the street, which will have all the facilities of a modern town suitable for a population of 30,000.

Ballymun's new main street will comprise shops with living accommodation overhead, a leisure centre, civic centre, private housing, offices and a hotel. It will be landscaped, with pedestrian facilities to replace the existing dual carriageway on the Ballymun Road.

A Quality Bus Corridor will initially be built as part of Ballymun's new Main Street and this is to be replaced by the Luas line when it comes on stream in a couple of years. In the meantime, however, motorists can expect severe disruption in the area as construction work is carried out.

There will be some changes to pedestrian and traffic routes from Santry Avenue to Ballymun Comprehensive School during these improvements, which will last for the next 15 months.

Traffic on the roundabout will be restricted at all times during the construction project but work on the Ballymun Road will be carried out in such a way as to minimise the impact on peak-hour traffic. Temporary footpaths will be provided for pedestrians and pedestrian underpasses will close.