Proposed changes to bus routes revealed
Bus users are being urged to have their say as the National Transport Authority and Dublin Bus have published plans to overhaul the bus network in the Greater Dublin area.
The public consultation on this report will open on Monday, July 16, and continue until September 14. Plans can be viewed on busconnects.ie.
The proposed plans will increase the frequency of all ‘orbital services’ connecting greater Dublin to the city centre and link them to new ‘central spines’ which are routes that have constant buses to the city centre.
This will mean changes to the 145, 184 and 84. One key change locally would be a new circular route (204) around the Greystones area going through Greystones, from Victoria Road, Church Road (Main Street) along Mill Road and through Killincarrig, turning right at the roundabout and continuing past Tesco to meet the starting point.
The proposals for Bray include Bray DART station becoming a terminus for all local routes, while the current 145 (which will become E1) will no longer serve the Killarney Road/ Ballywaltrim area but there will be a new feeder route into it. The current routes 45a, 184, 185 will all more or less remain the same, however, seemingly with a cut to Palermo.
The plan links Newtownmountkennedy and Kilcoole and would extend a route from Wicklow to link in with the LUAS in Cherrywood.
Branch E1 of the E spine would begin at Bray station and extend north. Other routes would be the 212 (linking Bray and Ballywaltrim, leaving every 10 minutes), the 211 (taking in Dun Laoghaire and Sallynoggin to Kilmacanogue) and the 213 replacing the 185. The 84x would become 315, with another new bus service (301) to UCD.
Fare structures for the proposals have not been announced.
‘I would really encourage you to look at the proposed changes and make your views known,’ said Minister Simon Harris. ‘This plan is a proposal and I firmly believe that engagement with the community will help ensure the most suitable service is provided.’
Bray Labour Party representative Ian McGahon is urging local residents to engage with the proposed route changes.
‘Improvements in public transport are always welcome,’ he said.
‘There are many issues to consider: will Station Road at Bray DART Station be able to cope with an increase of hundreds of extra bus departures and arrivals? Isn’t this a wasted opportunity to bring improved bus services to the Southern Cross area in Bray?
He also called for clarity on the future of a proposed upgrade to Bray station as a transport hub, dating back to 2015.
‘It should be fair to assume that the aim of the BusConnect plans are to improve things for all passengers, so that should be our criteria when we look at the proposals that impact on Bray,’ said Sinn Fein’s councillor elect Dermot O’Brien. ‘Unfortunately the plan at this stage looks like both a missed opportunity and bad news for Bray. My colleague John Brady TD has long sought the establishment of a Bray loop service. Whilst not included in the initial proposals, I believe there still is an opportunity to consider a local loop service for Bray, this would link key areas like the seafront, Southern Cross and Little Bray to Bray Town centre. The loop service could also include running a service back into the Fassaroe area, reinstating a route that was cut a number of years ago.’ GARDAI have determined that killer Mark Hennessy is not linked to any other murders or other serious crimes after a lengthy trawl of the DNA database.
Hennessy (40) was shot dead by a garda detective on May 20, around 24 hours after he abducted and murdered 24-year-old Jastine Valdez from Enniskerry.
An investigation into his shooting is still under way.
For weeks, specialist officers have been comparing Hennessy’s DNA in an attempt to establish connections between him and any other serious crimes, including unsolved murders and sex assaults.
No such link has been found, and a senior source said that the abduction and murder of Jastine is being treated as hugely out of character’ for the killer.
‘ There was nothing in his background to suggest that he would carry out such a crime and there is no evidence at all linking him to any other serious crime, as the DNA database has come back with nothing,’ according to a source.
Hennessy was not known to gardai for any serious criminal behaviour. However, he had previous convictions dating back to his early 20s.
The DNA database introduced in 2014 is used to match crime scene profiles during garda investigations as well as identifying missing and unknown persons.
Gardai have still not received toxicology and other reports in relation to the murder, which is classified as being ‘detected’.
It has also emerged that Hennessy’s devastated Welsh wife and mother of his two children has left Ireland and is now based in England with her children at her sister’s home.