Sir, - There has been very little public comment on the decision by the authorities at UCD Belfield to deny through access to motor traffic during peak hours. With the start of the school term the loss of this route has brought traffic chaos to the surrounding area.
It is hardly a coincidence that some of the prime movers behind last year's "Quality Bus Corridor" initiative should happen to be senior members of the faculty at UCD. In support of their action the UCD authorities published annual road accident figures for the campus. What they did not tell us was how many of these accidents involved inexperienced "student" motorists - or, indeed, the large number of people who regard the university as an ideal spot for driving lessons.
A glance at a map of Dublin will show the UCD Belfield covers a very large area. It is three times the size of the neighbouring Elm Park golf club and about eight times the size of Trinity College. The UCD campus, extensive as it is, also dominates a much larger tract of south Dublin through which there is no public road. Nevertheless the college authorities seem to have the power to insist that local residents and commuters should have to find a way round all this, but only at those times of day when through access is most needed. Arrogance or what? - Yours, etc.,
Conor O'Brien, Mount Anville Park, Dublin 14.