Sir, – For the second year in a row, Ireland ranked as the worst performing country in the EU for action on climate change. The plans for Bus Connect indicate that we are intent on continuing this tradition.
The aim of this plan is to aid the flow of all traffic, not just public transportation. Car journeys will be especially enhanced when drivers no longer have to contend with bus traffic or bicycles. The predictable result will be more cars on the road and more pollution. Yes, electric cars will eventually take over, but “eventually” can be a very long time indeed, time we do not have.
But even if emissions are discounted, these plans will still add to global warming. Hard surfaces are the most significant factor in creating urban warming which impacts the global environment. Bus Connection, in creating these four-lane motorways (plus bike lanes), will cover untold acres of land in pavement that will heat up with the sun’s rays during the day and continue to release this heat long after sundown. Trees that shade our present roads and prevent warming while reducing pollution, will be felled.
One of the best ways to mitigate urban warming and air pollution is to create green areas. These need not be large public parks. Gardens, for example, do make an impact. Indeed, a network of small green spaces throughout an area is more effective than a single large park. Private gardens do not require public expenditure for their creation and maintenance.
But Bus Connects wishes to cover untold acres of these gardens in pavement. And, by eliminating on-street parking along its routes, will force even more gardens to be paved over for car parking spaces. They provide no estimate of how much land will be covered by these heat-producing hard surfaces. This information needs to be made publicly available so the damage is clear to everyone.
Similarly, although Dublin is plagued by problems with surface drainage of water, especially in heavy storms, not a word has been said about how these new, wider roads will handle it. This also needs open discussion, as climate change will create some very severe storms indeed.
It’s time we scrapped these plans. They are going to cost us the Earth. – Yours, etc,
SARAH MORGAN,
Dublin 6W.