The public display documents relating to this project are now available to view in the reception area of Wicklow County Council, Station Road, Wicklow Town, Co Wicklow
The severity of traffic congestion issues on the N11/M11, particularly at peak travel times, requires an early intervention to start addressing the problems on the corridor. Accordingly, a project to assess the feasibility of providing bus lanes on the N11/M11 corridor is progressing.
This project, called the ‘N11/M11 Bus Priority Interim Scheme’ (N11/M11 BPIS), is progressing as a multi-authority project involving Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the National Transport Authority (NTA), Wicklow County Council and Dún-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Kildare National Roads Office has been appointed to project manage the scheme. Wicklow County Council has appointed Arup as technical consultants to progress the planning and design of the project in accordance with the TII Project Management Guidelines (PMG).
The overriding objective of the N11/M11 BPIS is to develop a proposal for the provision of bus priority measures (in both directions) during peak periods on the N11/M11 national road. Priority facilities can be used by buses/coaches to avoid congested traffic lanes and help to reduce the current unsustainable dependency on the private car. Where feasible, it is envisaged that the N11/M11 BPIS could be considered for implementation in advance of the larger and more comprehensive N11/M11 Junction 4 to Junction 14 Improvement Scheme (which is being progressed in tandem by Wicklow County Council).
The N11/M11 BPIS is examining the feasibility of providing dedicated bus lanes along the section of existing N11/M11 route extending from Loughlinstown roundabout in the north to N11 Junction 9 (Glenview) in the south. While it is desirable that the provided lanes would be continuous, some level of discontinuity may be considered where the impacts to adjacent constraints by providing full continuity would be considered excessive or disproportionate, within the context of an interim scheme.
This section of the N11/M11 corridor traverses two local authorities, with the northern portion of the scheme located within the boundary of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the remaining extent within Wicklow County Council. The scheme covers sections of the existing route designated as Motorway and Type 1 Dual Carriageway.
The N11/M11 route is identified within the NTA’s Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016 – 2035 (GDA Strategy) as a ‘Regional Corridor’ as part of the ‘Core Bus Network’. As outlined in the GDA Strategy, in order to develop an efficient, reliable and effective bus system, the core bus network should be developed to achieve:
Continuous priority for bus movement on the portions of the Core Bus Network;
Enhanced bus lane provisions on these corridors;
Removal of current delays on the bus network, enabling the bus to provide a faster alternative to car traffic along these routes;
A more efficient core bus system with faster bus journeys means that more people can be moved with the same level of vehicle and driver resources.
Further information:
See https://n11m11bpis.ie/ for up to date news on the N11/M11 Bus Priority Interim Scheme.