Eleven years of waiting for a Lucan Luas Link is “simply not good enough” for the local community.
This is according to Fianna Fail local election candidate Caitriona McClean who is calling on authorities to reveal their plans for a local tram link.
“This government and the NTA must focus on providing the essential links to keep Lucan moving,” she said.
“The Luas should come out along the N4 as far as the Lucan Spa Hotel initially and eventually link up to Adamstown station.
“The space and the infrastructure is there, we just need the will of the Government and the NTA.
“Not only would it reduce vehicle traffic on the N4 but it would mean fewer motorists on our roads, which is in keeping with the efforts to mitigate against climate change.”
The Lucan Luas preferred route, or line F as it’s known, was announced back in November 2008 with the planning for the two lines to be split in two.
Line F1 would go from Lucan to Blackhorse where it would connect with the existing Red Line.
Line F2 would leave the existing Red Line at St James’s Hospital and continue on to College Green through Christchurch and Dame Street.
In 2010 however these plans were changed to connect the Lucan Luas to a proposed Dart underground line at Inchicore.
Then in 2016 a Lucan Luas was announced as part of the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy but Minister Shane Ross said it would be “at least 5 years” before work began.
“The development of the east-west Luas line from Lucan, while part of the longer-term transport strategy for the GDA, will not be progressed within the lifetime of the current capital plan,” he said.
Meanwhile locals struggle with ever worsening traffic problems.
“Lucan continues to lag way behind in terms of congestion and transport infrastructure in the city,” Caitriona McClean said.
“Anyone living or working in Lucan can tell you that developing a light rail link would make complete sense.
“Eventually, a linkup between the Adamstown and Saggart stations would provide access to all Luas lines for all passengers avoiding city congestion as well as serving Adamstown and other local residents.
“It’s only 3.5 miles but it would take a huge volume of traffic off our roads and make life easier for a whole cohort of commuters.
“On my recent visit to Adamstown, it was very obvious that the station has huge potential but is not meeting the local needs because the link from Saggart has not been developed or provided by the NTA.
“The NTA must focus on solutions that yield the biggest return in terms of value for money and an Adamstown-Saggart link is a very obvious one”, she said.
