The firm was appointed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The proposed Luas scheme will provide a high-capacity, high-frequency public transport link from the eastern to the western suburbs of Cork and will serve a large number of significant destinations including Ballincollig, the proposed Cork Science and Innovation Park (CSIP), Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), Cork University Hospital (CUH), University College Cork (UCC), Cork City Centre, Kent Station/Cork North Docklands, Cork South Docklands and Mahon.
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The project is a key element in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, published by the NTA earlier this year and has been a long-term objective in the Cork Metropolitan Area under a number of local authority statutory development plans. Both Project Ireland 2040 and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027 make commitments to progressing the scheme to support the ambitious growth projections for Cork city.
Green Party Councillor for Cork City North East, Oliver Moran, highlighted the importance of the announcement: "This is long-awaited news for Cork with the announcement today to begin staking out the east-to-west light rail route for the city. This is the first step in the process, and it is important to see it progress swiftly so that there’s confidence and clarity in where the route will align. We will also need to safeguard the route for future development, probably first by initiating it as a dedicated high-frequency bus route."
Dublin City Council is to implement a one-way car ban on for a 2.5km stretch of Strand Road in Sandymount to make room for two-way cycle track. The move is part of a larger project to create a safe cycle path along the Dublin Bay coast from Sutton to Sandycove. The move follows a string of successful measures to create safe spaces for cyclists in Dublin city, including a new path along the Liffey Quays and the creation of a one-way traffic system by from Blackrock to Sandycove.
