Pedestrian crossing at the junction of Mount Prospect Avenue and Mount Prospect Park, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Having waited many years for a much needed pedestrian crossing on Mount Prospect Avenue at the junction with Mount Prospect park, that was approved for implementation in 2022 but not funded and having requested an update on the list of crossings funded for the North Central area for 2023 for the last while, could this area committee agree that the pedestrian crossing is funded and put in place urgently with no more delay.
Background and reasons
Mount Prospect Avenue is one of the busiest roads in Clontarf and is 1.9km in length from its beginning at the junction of Vernon Avenue, to the end at the Clontarf Road. There are pedestrian crossings at both ends but as it currently stands there is nowhere along the entire 1.9 km intervening route to cross Mount Prospect Avenue. My concern arises from the fact that in order to drop children to local schools, parents/guardians have simply nowhere to safely the cross the avenue in order to reach the school. School runs take place from 8am in the morning, with pick up at 1-1.20pm for younger children and again at 2-2.20pm for those in 1st class and above. At these times and especially at 8-8.40am there are numerous vehicles on Mount Prospect Avenue, both those dropping their own children to school and commuters - not to mention the 130 double decker bus on its way into the city centre.
Increasingly, it has become very dangerous to make your way across Mount Prospect Avenue with children in tow - whether on foot, scooter or on bicycle. Cars simply do not slow down when they see children (speed bumps are of no use - cars simply drive around them) and recently there have been some near collisions between cars and children. Most recently, cars heading in both directions on Mount Prospect Avenue kindly stopped to allow at least 6 children and parents cross the road - however a careless driver took it upon themselves to simply overtake the stopped cars and in turn came close to colliding with a child who was walking her bike across the road.
To also note - school runs are not the only flow of pedestrians using this route - turning onto Mount Prospect Park, off Mount Prospect Avenue, brings you straight to the entrance to St. Anne’s Park - this is a route taken by many dog walkers and older people. Older people often cross this stretch of road to get to the 130 bus stop, or to the church or parish hall or newsagents at St. Gabriel's. Likewise it is also home to many football fields. Cars travelling at great speed - can be found on any given Saturday/Sunday morning and indeed evenings during the summer travelling to the entrance to St. Anne’s Park.
I would implore you to consider this request before there is a serious if not tragic accident on Mount Prospect Avenue. Drivers simply pay no heed to the fact that there are small children trying to make their way across Mount Prospect Avenue - by foot, on scooters and on bikes. All are accompanied by their parents - but it makes the task none the easier as drivers simply do not slow down.
Minutes:
That this area committee agrees that the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Mount Prospect Avenue and Mount Prospect Park, Clontarf, Dublin 3 is funded and put in place urgently with no more delay.
Having been waiting many years for a much needed pedestrian crossing on Mount Prospect Avenue at the junction with Mount Prospect Park, that was approved for implementation in 2022 but not funded and having requested an update on the list of crossings funded for the North Central area for 2023 for the last while.
Background and reasons
Mount Prospect Avenue is one of the busiest roads in Clontarf and is 1.9km in length from its beginning at the junction of Vernon Avenue, to the end at the Clontarf Road. There are pedestrian crossings at both ends but as it currently stands there is nowhere along the entire 1.9 km intervening route to cross Mount Prospect Avenue. My concern arises from the fact that in order to drop children to local schools, parents/guardians have simply nowhere to safely the cross the avenue in order to reach the school. School runs take place from 8am in the morning, with pick up at 1-1.20pm for younger children and again at 2-2.20pm for those in 1st class and above. At these times and especially at 8-8.40am there are numerous vehicles on Mount Prospect Avenue, both those dropping their own children to school and commuters - not to mention the 130 double decker bus on its way into the city centre.
Increasingly, it has become very dangerous to make your way across Mount Prospect Avenue with children in tow - whether on foot, scooter or on bicycle. Cars simply do not slow down when they see children (speed bumps are of no use - cars simply drive around them) and recently there have been some near collisions between cars and children. Most recently, cars heading in both directions on Mount Prospect Avenue kindly stopped to allow at least 6 children and parents cross the road - however a careless driver took it upon themselves to simply overtake the stopped cars and in turn came close to colliding with a child who was walking her bike across the road.
To also note - school runs are not the only flow of pedestrians using this route - turning onto Mount Prospect Park, off Mount Prospect Avenue, brings you straight to the entrance to St. Anne’s Park - this is a route taken by many dog walkers and older people. Older people often cross this stretch of road to get to the 130 bus stop, or to the church or parish hall or newsagents at St. Gabriel's. Likewise it is also home to many football fields. Cars travelling at great speed - can be found on any given Saturday/Sunday morning and indeed evenings during the summer travelling to the entrance to St. Anne’s Park.
I would implore you to consider this request before there is a serious if not tragic accident on Mount Prospect Avenue. Drivers simply pay no heed to the fact that there are small children trying to make their way across Mount Prospect Avenue - by foot, on scooters and on bikes. All are accompanied by their parents - but it makes the task none the easier as drivers simply do not slow down.
Reply
The area engineer has a very limited budget for 2023; providing a pedestrian crossing at the T Junction located at Mount Prospect Park/Mount Prospect Avenue would lead to exceeding the Annual Budget for Dublin North Central.
There are no plans for Active Travel or Bus Connects to carry out any civil works at the aforementioned location.
The area engineer will add the aforementioned junction to the list of pedestrian crossings requested throughout Dublin North Central.
If funding becomes available later in the year the Area Engineer will look at this junction and other junctions where pedestrian crossings have been requested.
Contact: Gerry McEntagart – North City Executive Engineer.
Tel: 087 2615965.
Email: gerald.mcentagart@dublincity.ie
Order: Agreed.