CAPEL STREET HAS BEEN PEDESTRIANISED – 22 AUGUST 2022 VISIT
As I was walking along the street a couple approached me complaining that they could not purchase a parking ticket as they could not find a ticket machine. They got really annoyed when I explained that it was a pedestrian only zone. They explained in no uncertain terms that they will never again to Dublin to shop.
If you are walking along the street a degree of caution is advise because bicycles and electric scooters are permitted to use the street and there are so many of them that they a rapidly becoming a safety issue. Note: I am not sure if electric scooters are actually legal but there are many of them.
With a 400m pedestrian and cycle area stretching from Parnell Street and Ryder’s Row at its northern end, to Strand Street in the south, Capel Street’s traffic exclusion zone exceeds both Henry Street and Grafton Street in length.
The council implemented pedestrianisation trial on Capel Street banning traffic from the street from 6.30pm to 11.30pm at weekends. More than 7,000 submissions were made to a subsequent consultation process, the largest number of submissions the council has ever received to a public consultation.
About 80 per cent were in favour of pedestrianising Capel Street on a permanent basis with about 90 per cent seeking some traffic-free measures.
Key elements of the plan were: Permanent closure at Parnell Street extending from Jervis Lane to remove through traffic on Capel Street. Delivery access will be available between 6am and 11am. Car parking spaces will be converted to loading bays. There will be all day loading provided at a number of side streets. Mary’s Abbey traffic flow direction will be reversed and residents existing from Abbey Street will exit via Mary’s Abbey. Mary Street between Capel Street and Jervis Lane will be reversed. Strand Street Little and Strand Street Great will remain open to traffic all day. Initial street improvements including seating and greening are to be provided.
URBAN DECAY AND DEPRESSION NEAR THE BIKE YARD AT RYDER’S ROW
A street named Ryder’s Row is without doubt an appropriate address for a Bike Yard business.
The area is question is a triangle of properties formed by Ryder’s Row, one end of Capel Street and one short section of Capel Street.
There was a derelict site to the right of the bicycle yard which was converted into a mini public-park which immediately became a magnet for rough sleepers at night and students during the day. Daytime users were not a problem but from about 7pm it became a place to be avoided.
Sadly a person believed to be sleeping rough was found dead in the park. This was the second homeless person to die in the immediate area in recent times. One, who died, was a well known local character who wandered the city together with his little dog in a shopping trolley.
The mini-park is currently fenced off and unavailable as a public space.
This semi-derelict complex is behind a house of note on Capel Street. Described as a Dutch Billy it is one of a small number of extant examples of Dublin’s rich pre-Georgian architectural heritage, many of which have now been demolished or unrecognisably altered. In fact, it is one of only a few surviving intact on Capel Street, a thoroughfare once dominated by these structures.
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