Grafton Street resurfacing due to resume today

The €4 million repaving of Dublin's Grafton Street, which was suspended last November, will resume again today.

The project to remove the red brick surface of the pedestrianised street and replace it with pink and grey granite began last May and is due to finish in November.

It was suspended to facilitate the Christmas and new year shopping period but will recommence this morning at the junction of Wicklow Street.

Complaints
The first phase of works, carried out on the section of Grafton Street from Chatham Street to South King Street, was completed in August. Dublin City Council received complaints about the appearance of the new paving, which was dirty and marked with chewing gum, but it undertook to clean and seal the stones once each section was completed.

Work on the second section, from Nassau Street to Wicklow Street is due to finish shortly. The next phase will see the new paving extended from Wicklow Street to Duke Street.

Delivery vehicles are excluded from the work sites but pedestrian and emergency access is being maintained to all shops and other businesses. The replacement of the Eurobrick paving, dating from 30 years ago when the street was pedestrianised, is the first development of a €14 million investment programme to upgrade the area over the next three years.

The Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan will see a revamp of the streets and lanes of the largely Georgian and Victorian area from St Stephen’s Green to College Green and from South Great George’s Street to Kildare Street.

Wider footpaths
The plan involves reducing traffic lanes, widening footpaths, removing parking and developing street cafes. It focuses on improving the pedestrian environment and "rebalancing" the use of streets in favour of pedestrians without banning cars, the council said.

Nine principal project areas have been identified: Grafton Street, Fade Street, Clarendon Street, Duke Street/South Anne Street, Drury Street, South William Street, St Stephen’s Green, Johnson Place and St Andrew’s Church. The latter two have been earmarked for the most dramatic transformation with the creation of new civic spaces.

The area where Grafton Street meets St Stephen’s Green is, apart from the new Cross City Luas, to be a “traffic free” civic space, with plans for a boulevard of public and restaurant seating as far as the top of Dawson Street.