CONSTRUCTION OF TEMPORARY bus stops along Chesterfield Avenue in Dublin’s Phoenix Park has begun today.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) said that anyone travelling through the park should expect slight delays due to the construction, which will last for around four weeks. 

The Phoenix Park Transport and Mobility Options Study, which was commissioned by the OPW, recommended that a public bus linking the Phoenix Park to other transport hubs in the city in 2021. 

The OPW said the National Transport Authority (NTA) recently confirmed that it would be in a position to provide a pilot bus service from Heuston Station to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

It said it has appointed Hegarty Building Contractors to undertake the construction of temporary bus stops along Chesterfield Avenue and at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.

There will be a total of seven stops within the Phoenix Park, including stops at Dublin Zoo, Phoenix Roundabout, Phoenix Park Visitor Centre and at the People’s Gardens, Parkgate Street Entrance.

Traffic management will be in place for the duration of the works, with slight delays expected for anyone travelling through the park.

Signage will be in place to direct cyclists, walkers and car users around the temporary works.

Once the necessary infrastructure is in place, Dublin Bus will operate a new bus route through the park later this autumn.

The 99, which mirrors the Phoenix Park’s initials, will operate a daily shuttle service from 9am to 6.30pm.

‘Park for everyone’

Speaking to The Journal, Green Party councillor for Dublin’s South West Inner City Michael Pidgeon said he’s “delighted” the pilot route is getting underway and hopes it will be a success.

“It’s been a bugbear of mine for a long time that you weren’t able to access the park by public transport. You could get to the edges, but you couldn’t get into the middle to Dublin Zoo or to the Visitor Centre or the Áras,” he said.

“It was just totally the wrong signal to be sending around a park- that if you can, you can cycle or walk, but if you can’t, the car is the only option. That’s not right. There should be a park for everyone.”

Pidgeon said this is the latest in a series of changes that have been implemented in the park.

“A lot of this has its roots in Covid when some of the gates were closed and we saw what the park could be like with reduced car traffic,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of steps – the new speed limits, more cycling and walking trails, more parking for the disabled, and taking back some areas away from car traffic in the park.”

He said his main priority is redesigning Chesterfield Avenue to make it more friendly towards pedestrians.

“Dublin City Council are working with the NTA and the park management to come up with a new route that’s much easier for people walking. There’s currently no pedestrian crossings over the entire road, which is madness when you think about it for a park. Especially at the zoo, there’s no way to legally cross that road as a pedestrian,” he said.

“Getting pedestrian crossings in, getting proper bike lanes in, being able to have safe cycling without the ugly bollards that are there at the moment, that’d be real progress. For me, the next focus is getting that project done and the bus is part of that.”

Further details will be made available by the NTA closer to the launch of the service.