Client: Dublin City Council
DBFL Consulting Engineers were appointed by Dublin City Council to design and support the delivery of the Belmayne Main Street & Belmayne Avenue scheme. The scheme involved the design of a 1 km link road connecting the Malahide Road to Clongriffin DART Station including a new junction with the Malahide Road (Approx AADT 28,000) The scheme forms a critical element in the delivery of Dublin City Council’s aspirations for providing sustainable transport links to support residential and commercial development in the Belmayne/Clongriffin area. Therefore, the primary aim of the scheme design was to encourage a modal shift for local trips within Belmayne to sustainable travel modes by providing high quality walking, cycling and public transport links as well as providing a connections to the Clongriffin Train Station.
The scheme is one of the first completed new sections of the Bus Connects Core Bus Corridors. Belmayne Main Street is part of the Clongriffin to City Centre Core Bus Corridor and as such the design developed by DBFL included segregated bus lanes for the entire length of Main Street including additional bus priority measures such as Bus Gates and new bus stops which were designed in accordance with emerging NTA guidance. In terms of provision for vulnerable road users, DBFL developed a design that included parking protected off road cycle tracks and an innovative ‘Dutch’ style design solution for the Belmayne Main Street/Belmayne Avenue junction. The scheme required careful consideration and design of the traffic signalling arrangement for this junction as well as the proposed Bus Gate junction between Main Street and Malahide Road.
All aspects of the design were carried out in accordance with the design philosophies and guidance of the National Cycle Manual and DMURS. The proposed design was presented and agreed with NTA officials. DBFL also prepared a Preliminary Appraisal for the scheme for which the NTA Regional Modelling System was used
At construction stage there were several constraints that had to be considered such as seasonal constraints associated with diversion of ESB infrastructure and the removal of contaminated material such as pyritic stone which was present within previously constructed sections of roadway and footpaths.
The scheme delivers an enhanced public realm through greening along the entire corridor and includes further landscaping measures. Porous asphalt was also used as pavement material for the cycle tracks on both sides of the street. Porous asphalt requires less energy and produces less emissions at manufacturing stage. The most significant environmental benefit materialises following installation whereby the material absorbs the majority of surface water collected on the pavement leading to less surface water run off.
Project Director
