Merrion Gates removal scheme

jhenno78

Sam Russell wrote: »

All the buildings facing Herbert Ave are two stories. All the red brick houses opposite are two stories. The building facing Merrion Rd either side are two story. South of the Herbert Ave is an estate of Pembroke Estate Cottages, and north is a victorian building used by Breast Check. Behind, hidden from view, is a low rise block of apartments, west of the Gowan site that will suffer from shadow.

Which contrast with the variety of other buildings already in the immediate surrounds and the area in general (which at up to 8 storeys would also generally be considered low-rise, though admittedly definitions vary quite a bit).
If anyone wanted to keep the spot as cute red-brick nostalgia they're at least 50 years too late.

The apartment building is orientated so that the south-facing parts won't be at all effected and the north-facing parts are...they're north-facing, they're already in shadow?

Sam Russell wrote: »

The St Vincent's Private Hospital is not visible from Merrion Road at Gowan's.

Really?

Sam Russell wrote: »

It is obvious that 8 Stories is out of scale at that location.

...except for the other buildings 100&200m away of the same size. Not that I buy the "t'was always thus, and always thus t'will be" argument.

Sam Russell

jhenno78 wrote: »

Which contrast with the variety of other buildings already in the immediate surrounds and the area in general (which at up to 8 storeys would also generally be considered low-rise, though admittedly definitions vary quite a bit).
If anyone wanted to keep the spot as cute red-brick nostalgia they're at least 50 years too late.

The apartment building is orientated so that the south-facing parts won't be at all effected and the north-facing parts are...they're north-facing, they're already in shadow?


Really?

...except for the other buildings 100&200m away of the same size. Not that I buy the "t'was always thus, and always thus t'will be" argument.

Yes you can see he St Vincens Private from the Merrion Road but its scale cannot be seen, it looks smaller than all the building in between - but that is because it is a long way away.

I have no problems with tall buildings - but not 8 stories there. The nurses home on the SVUH site was that sort of height and was demolished to be replaced by a two story car park plus roof parking - now that should have been much higher.

Marcusm

Sam Russell wrote: »

Yes you can see he St Vincens Private from the Merrion Road but its scale cannot be seen, it looks smaller than all the building in between - but that is because it is a long way away.

I have no problems with tall buildings - but not 8 stories there. The nurses home on the SVUH site was that sort of height and was demolished to be replaced by a two story car park plus roof parking - now that should have been much higher.

The road at that point is 4 lanes wide with commercial buildings and a church car park on the other side. It won’t cast shadows onto anything. It can’t create a canyon effect on Merrion Road. At worst it might be slightly distracting to passing traffic. Given that it’s unlikely to be repeated along that road, I think 8 stories would be appropriate use of relatively busy/commercial road frontage.

Sam Russell

Marcusm wrote: »

The road at that point is 4 lanes wide with commercial buildings and a church car park on the other side. It won’t cast shadows onto anything. It can’t create a canyon effect on Merrion Road. At worst it might be slightly distracting to passing traffic. Given that it’s unlikely to be repeated along that road, I think 8 stories would be appropriate use of relatively busy/commercial road frontage.

Not a canyon, more like a sore thumb.

Marcusm

Sam Russell wrote: »

Not a canyon, more like a sore thumb.

Looking incongruous in a non-conservation area wouldn’t be a valid planning objection, however.

Sam Russell

Some local councilors are looking for votes by scare stories about CPO activity on the Merrion Road re bus connects.

I think this project could be made part of it.

delganycharlie

As part of this scheme, the old Merrion railway station (eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20M/Merrion/IrishRailwayStations.html) should be reopened as a DART station with new platforms. I know people will say "well, Sydney Parade and Booterstown are only a few minutes away" but look at how close some other DART stations are to another and how convenient it would be for the residents of that area to have a DART station right on their doorstep. With Dublin's expanding transport system it's a just really.

If the plans are to demolish it then I will personally lodge an appeal against it.

josip

delganycharlie wrote: »

As part of this scheme, the old Merrion railway station (eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20M/Merrion/IrishRailwayStations.html) should be reopened as a DART station with new platforms. I know people will say "well, Sydney Parade and Booterstown are only a few minutes away" but look at how close some other DART stations are to another and how convenient it would be for the residents of that area to have a DART station right on their doorstep. With Dublin's expanding transport system it's a just really.

If the plans are to demolish it then I will personally lodge an appeal against it.

What are the other Dart stations close to each other that you're referring to Charlie?

delganycharlie

josip wrote: »

What are the other Dart stations close to each other that you're referring to Charlie?

Blackrock and Seapoint.

Sam Russell

delganycharlie wrote: »

Blackrock and Seapoint.

Merrion Gates is 500km from Sydney Parade. Blackrock is ! km from Seapoint, wich is 1km from Monkstown.

When Merrion Gates was a station, Sydney Parade was not.

delganycharlie

Sam Russell wrote: »

Merrion Gates is 500km from Sydney Parade. Blackrock is ! km from Seapoint, wich is 1km from Monkstown.

When Merrion Gates was a station, Sydney Parade was not.

What exactly is the issue with reopening Merrion Station?

L1011

delganycharlie wrote: »

What exactly is the issue with reopening Merrion Station?

That it's pointless duplication and would slow down already slow services even further. This is heavy rail not a tram

delganycharlie

L1011 wrote: »

That it's pointless duplication and would slow down already slow services even further. This is heavy rail not a tram

I could say the same about the distance between Howth Junction and Kilbarrack. It will serve the community of Merrion.

loyatemu

there's so much slack in the current timetable, might as well add another stop.

There would be about 800m between SP and MG and another 800m to Blackrock and then another 800m to Seapoint. Sandymount and Lansdowne are even closer together.

Del.Monte

Sam Russell wrote: »

Merrion Gates is 500km from Sydney Parade. Blackrock is ! km from Seapoint, wich is 1km from Monkstown.

When Merrion Gates was a station, Sydney Parade was not.

Merrion Gates and Sidney Parade were both open at the same time but the latter outlived Merrion Gates which closed c.1934.

delganycharlie

The same could be said about the upcoming Woodbrook DART station at Shanganagh:

thejournal.ie/new-dart-station-3313367-Mar2017

"Why can't they just use the nearby Shankill station?"

Sam Russell

Del.Monte wrote: »

Merrion Gates and Sidney Parade were both open at the same time but the latter outlived Merrion Gates which closed c.1934.

My memory is not that good - that was 85 years ago!

Sydney parde was closed from 1960 until 1972 - outlived is relative.

josip

delganycharlie wrote: »

I could say the same about the distance between Howth Junction and Kilbarrack. It will serve the community of Merrion.

Well Charlie, if you get your Merrion station re-opened I'll object to it unless they reopen the 2 old Killiney Stations.

Atlantic Dawn

It's such a bottlekneck costing tens of millions each year in productivity, give those 10 houses either side of it €1 million each and market price of their property to clear off and redevelop the area to have the rail line uninterupted.

delganycharlie

josip wrote: »

Well Charlie, if you get your Merrion station re-opened I'll object to it unless they reopen the 2 old Killiney Stations.

I would actually agree with reopening the old Ballybrack station:

eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/Railway%20Stations%20B/Ballybrack/IrishRailwayStations.html

and the Ballsbridge Showground station which would today serve the RDS. If Landsdowne Road gets its own station then why shouldn't the RDS?

delganycharlie

Williamstown station should be reopened as well, Good Christ why were these not thought up in the original DART plans? If you want a good rapid transit system for a growing city like Dublin then you need to service as much areas as possible. Look at any other rapid transit system in western Europe.

delganycharlie

Further down the Rosslare line there are other stations that warrant reopening, Newcastle, Rathnew and Ferns are three that stick out.

marno21

delganycharlie wrote: »

Further down the Rosslare line there are other stations that warrant reopening, Newcastle, Rathnew and Ferns are three that stick out.

The Rosslare line is already having issues with journey times being uncompetitive vs road and congestion on the line. There is 27km of motorway opening parallel to the line. Opening further stations south of Greystones would be a good idea to get the line given the Todd Andrews treatment.

delganycharlie

All I am suggesting is that it would be a very good idea for IÉ to reopen the Merrion and Ballybrack stations for use by the DART.

delganycharlie

Distance between stops shouldn't be an issue, it is the fact that communities are served that makes it a good public transportation system.

loyatemu

delganycharlie wrote: »

Further down the Rosslare line there are other stations that warrant reopening, Newcastle, Rathnew and Ferns are three that stick out.

there might be a case for Ferns.
Newcastle is a tiny place and the former station is miles from the village.
Rathnew is served by the station in Wicklow.

Dats me

delganycharlie wrote: »

Distance between stops shouldn't be an issue, it is the fact that communities are served that makes it a good public transportation system.

That's bus service thinking not heavy rail - and it's one of the reasons why buses are slow and trains are quick.

Sam Russell

Mod: If you want to discuss re-opening railway stations, I will transfer the posts to a new thread.

This thread is about a forgotten plan for a cycleway from Sutton to Seapoint, that included a plan to annoy those in the area of Merrion Gates because they might lose their parking places and part of their front gardens. That plan has now been superseded by Busconnects which is a plan that will annoy nearly all those that live in suburban Dublin because they might lose their parking places and part of their front gardens.

Plus ca change etc.

Carawaystick

Dats me wrote: »

That's bus service thinking not heavy rail - and it's one of the reasons why buses are slow and trains are quick.

You mightn't have got the bus from Dublin to Galway or to Arklow and compared the times to the train...

MayoSalmon

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

It's such a bottlekneck costing tens of millions each year in productivity, give those 10 houses either side of it €1 million each and market price of their property to clear off and redevelop the area to have the rail line uninterupted.

Isn't it just so easy to spend other people money..here's 10 million lads.