Residents feel 'angry and ignored' over planned upgrade of infamous south Dublin junction
Construction on a divisive junction upgrade is set to begin next summer - despite widespread opposition from Drimnagh residents who feel "angry" and "ignored".
Plans to upgrade the busy Suir, Davitt, Dolphin and Slievenamon Road junction has seen over 800 Drimnagh residents submit two joint submissions to the plan's public consultation, particularly highlighting their opposition to the closure of Slievenamon Road. Following a presentation at Monday’s South East Area Committee meeting, Councillor Pat Dunne said residents feel their views have been sidelined and there’s “a lot of anger in the area”.
The planned upgrades hopes to address concerns about the "notoriously dangerous” junction, which Senior Executive Engineer Grainne O’Brien revealed had eleven collisions between 2016 and 2013. These included two pedestrians, two cyclists, and seven vehicular collisions.
With a poor layout that includes five arms, the upgraded junction will be reduced to just three arms, increase queuing space in advance of stop lines, introduce a bus gate that allows buses to jump the queue, and rebalance traffic signal times to provide more green times. Over 5,000 pedestrians and 800 cyclists pass through the junction everyday, with only two controlled crossings and some arms having no crossings at all; these plans refocus on the Active Travel capabilities of the junction. With Active Travel being a key tenant of Dublin city’s development plan, Cllr Carolyn Moore said it's important that representatives get on the same page and she knows from personal experience that the junction is “ not very cyclist friendly .”
“I have no issue prioritising public transport and Active Travel. It’s a core objective of our development plan to facilitate efficient Active Travel in the city’s modal shift to public transport over private cars. It’s not a secret agenda, the development report is very clear on that,” she said.
There will be extra focus on pedestrian safety, as currently the junction is incredibly difficult to traverse on foot and there will be clearer routes for cyclists. However, these plans also close Slievenamon Road off from the junction, which has seen vocal opposition from residents, as well as the Dynamic Drimnagh community group.
“The reality is the majority of residents in Drimnagh believe the closure of Slievenamon Road is both unnecessary and will just lead to chaos, it is a gateway in and out of Drimnagh. Please take into account what they have said and redraw the plans,” Cllr Dunne pleaded.
Cllr Mannix Flynn agreed with these sentiments and said that going through with these plans will only lead to “ Strand Road 2 ”, citing the controversial legal battle that saw Dublin City Council in court over a controversial cycle lane. Cllr Flynn said “the benefactory of this seems to be the Luas ” and called on the Council to “listen to the local people.”
“People are looking at legal initiatives or a judicial review. This isn’t about some massive infrastructure, this is about the community feeling extremely othered. The NTA are paying for this, but at the end of the day Dublin City Council is going to have to stand over this,” he said.
Prioritisation of the Luas is a major component of the upgrade, as Ms O’Brien highlighted a consistent issue where cars break red lights or go across on amber and get “stranded” on the Luas tracks. “This has resulted in a lot of early breaking for the Luas operator. When there’s an incident with the Luas it causes havoc and disruption for commuters,” she said.
While Dynamic Drimagh and residents have been vocal in their opposition to these plans, other groups like the Dublin Cycling Campaign have welcomed the upgrade, describing it as “safer and more logical for all road users.” “Our report has acknowledged the submission from Dynamic Drimnagh and there’s a whole section dedicated to responding to their issues,” Ms O’Brien explained. “The population of Drimnagh is well over 12,000 and we are committed to doing surveys before and after to see what effects the bus gate and closure of Slievenamon Road will have on the network.”
Another contentious issue in the plan relates to the new Go Ahead bus route for the 73, which replaced the previous 123 bus. With 87 buses going through the junction every day, the current design often means there can be up to 25 minute delays, according to Ms O’Brien.
However, Cllr Dunne stressed that these delays only occur during peak times and that bus users are concerned the new routes will actually lead to further delays during off-peak times. He suggested they explore a system where Slievenamon Road is not closed off permanently.
“I was on the 73 last week. It was off peak time and there was no traffic. Your proposal sees that bus loop into a side road and you’re going to delay the bus further. There may be an argument to have a peak time bus gate and see how that works,” he said.
Cllr Patrick Kinsella also expressed his frustrations at the plans and said the huge number of signatures from residents means “we are compelling to listen to the people who will be living this closure of Slievenamon Road on a daily basis”. He said: “I am in favour of public transport, but not at the expense of everything else. We have to work with the residents of the area. It’s a lot of people to ignore.”
Currently, the detailed design and tender documents preparation for the upgrade is ongoing with tender for the contractor planned for Spring 2026. There are plans to update the community with information evenings and leaflets before construction begins in Summer 2026.
However, the managerial response from the Council said their plans will have built-in flexibility to allow cars to exit from Slievenamon Road if it is "justified" after the works. However, at this point, they don’t believe that will be necessary.
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