Dublin Corporation had the best of intentions when it commissioned Santiago Calatrava, the world's leading bridge designer, to design a new Liffey crossing at Macken Street - halfway between the Matt Talbot bridge and the East Link bridge.
The brief called for "a landmark structure of unmistakable modernity and with a unique character that would provide a symbol at the maritime gateway of Dublin, similar to the manner in which the Ha'penny Bridge has become an icon for the city".
Dr Calatrava devised a cable-stayed structure with a span of 120 metres suspended from a 48-metre pylon with a curved profile leaning northwards, evoking a harp lying on its side. His bridge is also pivoted, to allow occasional ships to pass upstream.
The primary purpose of the new bridge is to integrate the north and south Docklands and to create a relief route for traffic east of the city centre between the Five Lamps at Seville Place on the north side and Grand Canal Street on the south side.
This is in line with numerous policies and plans including the Dublin Transportation Initiative (1994), the Dublin Docklands Master Plan (1997), the Greater Dublin Area Strategic Planning Guidelines (1999) and National Development Plan (1999).
The Dublin City Development Plan, adopted by the city council in March 1999, also identified a general location for the bridge on the axis of Macken Street. All that has changed since is that the bridge as designed would be aligned with Guild Street.
Initially, it would carry four lanes of traffic, two of which are likely to be converted to public transport lanes in the future. The intention is that the bridge would cater for the proposed Docklands area bus service and possibly a future Luas light-rail line. In the meantime, the design incorporates segregated cycle tracks and wide footpaths flanking the four traffic lanes.
Yet when it came to expressing a view on the environmental impact statement (EIS) compiled by Roughan O'Donovan, consulting engineers, the city council - under pressure from local residents concerned about traffic and pollution - voted against it.
It did not help that the EIS seemed to pay more attention to the impact of the bridge on mute swans, who "can be expected to collide with it occasionally", though its bright colour (white) and illumination at night would maximise its visibility to this vulnerable bird species.
The EIS conceded that the bridge would "give rise to significant changes in traffic patterns on the road network in the Docklands area", with "substantial increases" in traffic volumes of 120 per cent forecast for Macken Street and 190 per cent for Guild Street. It would, however, reduce the flow of traffic on O'Connell Bridge by 23 per cent while pollution would be reduced by up to 20 per cent on some of the busiest city-centre streets - even though it is likely to increase by a similar amount in the area surrounding the bridge.
Given that it is intended as the key link in a canal distributor route bypassing the city centre, failure to proceed with it would mean that the O'Connell Street area improvement scheme "cannot be implemented", according to the EIS. It would also have a "very significant impact" on the implementation of a network of environmental traffic cells in the city centre, from which through-traffic is to be excluded, as well as on plans for more bus lanes and cycle tracks.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority's council, which is weighted in favour of local community interests, recently said it had "serious concerns" about the bridge as proposed, particularly the "prospective large increase in traffic flows".
Asked whether this reflected the view of the DDDA's executive board, a spokesman said the board "doesn't have a view that is different to the council's view". It was "not against a bridge", but merely wanted the current proposal subjected to "further evaluation".
The DDDA has clearly been boxed into a corner on this issue, yet it is utterly unsustainable to suggest that the bridge should not be built, especially as there is such a yawning gap - some two kilometres - between the Matt Talbot and East Link bridges.
The Docklands area needs many more bridges, not just Dr Calatrava's landmark structure. Saying that it requires "further evaluation" smacks of putting local interests before the strategic city-wide interest.
Though the amenities of some residential property are bound to be adversely affected by increased traffic, it is worth pointing out that privately owned homes along Macken Street, in particular, have trebled in value because of their central location.
When the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, launched the Docklands Master Plan in December 1997, he made it clear that the plan was not one from which different interests could cherry-pick the bits they liked; it had to be implemented in its totality.
The EIS has now gone to Mr Dempsey and it will be up to him to adjudicate, unless the bridge has become so politically fraught that he will kick for touch and refer it to An Bord Pleanala.