Sir, - The recent decision by Mrs Mary O'Rourke to seek yet another analysis of the underground option for the construction of a light rail system in Dublin city centre is a waste of valuable time which is potentially putting EU funding for the project in jeopardy. It should be recalled that the Dublin Transport Initiative originated during a Fianna Fail-led administration. The initiative's conclusions were endorsed by that party, as well as the Government of the day.
The Dublin City Centre Business Association (DCCBA) represents over 100 of the leading business organisations in the centre of Dublin, including those who would be most affected by any decision to put LUAS underground. We are opposed to that because international experience has shown it will do nothing to remove traffic gridlock and reduce air emissions pollution from the centre of Dublin.
Fear of using a public underground service to the city centre on grounds of personal security will distort unfairly the competitive nature of its shopping relative to suburban centres. Equality of access between all retailing locations of Dublin should be the benchmark justifying public investment in transport services.
Streets should be for people and access. Underpasses and tunnels should be for shoppers, cars and heavy goods vehicles.
If the present Government is really concerned to improve the poor traffic movement in Dublin, due to the three-year delay in building the Dublin Port Tunnel, it should rather invest £300 million as a matter of urgency in building single carriageway underpasses for traffic at the critical north/south and east/west crossroads, i.e. either side of the Liffey.
Those who chose not to participate in the required, previous consultative DTI process, those whose proposals did not become the adopted strategies of the DTI, should not be able to frustrate the LUAS public inquiry. The public inquiry should resume continuously from September 29th next.
Perhaps the positive aspect of the Minister's decision is that it will kill off once and for all the debate on a tunnel for LUAS. This could have the effect of shortening the public inquiry in Dublin Castle and speeding up the implementation of an integrated transport system that so many citizens worked on constructively and which Dubliners need so badly. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Coffey, Chief Executive, DCCBA,
Dawson Street, Dublin 2.