Client: Laois County Council
DBFL was commissioned by Laois County Council (LCC) to prepare the Portlaoise Local Transport Plan (LTP) which will provide a long-term strategic planning framework for developing transport infrastructure and services in Portlaoise and inform the development of the next Portlaoise Local Area Plan (LAP).
The LTP is being prepared in accordance with the NTA and TII’s Area Based Transport Assessment (ABTA) guidance which seeks to integrate transport and land use planning, and is comprised of five key stages: Baseline Assessment & Policy Review; Establish Context; Options Development & Assessment; Refinement & Sense-Check; Preparation of Local Transport Plan.
Following the ABTA methodology, the Draft LTP proposes a suite of transportation and public realm interventions which will enable the town to transition towards sustainable and low carbon transport modes. It supports Portlaoise’s designation as Ireland’s first Low Carbon Town and advances the delivery of the Portlaoise Regeneration Demonstration Project that, as described in the National Planning Framework, showcases best quality planning, urban design, and town rejuvenation.
DBFL’s Project Team carried out a comprehensive assessment of Portlaoise’s existing transport network, policy context, collision data from the Road Safety Authority, and transport indicators using Census 2022 POWSCAR data, and employed tools such as ArcGIS, ATOS (Accessibility to Opportunities and Services), and PTAL (Public Transport Accessibility Level) to provide an evidence base for the proposed interventions.
Stakeholder engagement also formed part of an important aspect of preparing the LTP, ensuring that local insight and suggestions were captured early in the process and informed the development and assessment of options. DBFL created an online survey using the web-based MS Forms. This allowed the survey to be disseminated to a wide and diverse group of people.
DBFL undertook a robust option development and assessment process to identify the Emerging Preferred Strategy. In order to sense-check and validate these proposes, DBFL built a Local Area Model (LAM) of the Study Area using the NTA’s Eastern Regional Model (ERM). A number of DBFL’s team are NTA Approved Users of the Regional Modelling System.
DBFL have recently completed a Draft Portlaoise LTP report summarising the plan’s objectives, recommended interventions and projects, and mode share targets. The Draft LTP puts forward a phased implementation plan of key proposals including an integrated Active Travel network, junction improvements, local mobility hubs, Park and Ride facilities aligned with the future Portlaoise town bus network, as well as a parking management strategy and other supporting measures. The LTP will ultimately inform the upcoming Portlaoise Local Area Plan, which is a statutory planning policy document for the town.
The Portlaoise Local Transport Plan sets ambitious mode share targets for employment and educations trips in Portlaoise; by 2042, the LTP aims to increase the modal share of sustainable mobility from 20% to 70% for employment-related trips, and 44% to 80% for education-related trips. To support this, the LTP proposes a suite of transportation and public realm interventions which will enable the town to transition towards sustainable and low carbon transport modes, bolstering Portlaoise’s designation as Ireland’s first Low Carbon Town.
Project Director