6.0. Introduction This chapter of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) presents the transport strategy and resulting impact appraisal for the proposed National Paediatric Hospital Project. A detailed description of the proposed development is presented in Chapter 2: Description of Proposed Development. The new children’s hospital at St James’s Hospital campus will be at the epicentre of a network of care, being an exemplary facility that looks after children and young people from all over Ireland who have complicated and serious illnesses and who are in need of specialist and complex care. The hospital will provide the highest possible standard of treatment and care to children, young people and their families who require access to national tertiary and quaternary paediatric services, providing inpatient care and all surgery (including day surgery). The new children’s hospital will accommodate the highest number of specialties available on one campus by merging the expertise of the three existing facilities at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital and the National Children’s Hospital at Tallaght into one hospital which will be co-located with the existing St. James’s (Adult) Hospital. The location of the existing three children’s hospitals in relation to the St James’s Hospital campus is presented in Figure 6.1. Children’s University Hospital Temple Street St. James’s Hospital Campus Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin 6-1 National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght Hospital Figure 6.1 Location of Existing Children’s Hospitals in the Greater Dublin Area The National Paediatric Hospital Project includes satellite centres at two locations within the Greater Dublin Area, Tallaght Hospital on the south side of Dublin and Connolly Hospital on the north side of Dublin. The new children’s hospital satellite centres will provide urgent care facilities along with secondary acute outpatient services, including rapid access general paediatric clinics. The location of the two proposed satellite centres in relation to St James’s Hospital campus can been seen in Figure 6.2. Connolly Hospital St. James’s Hospital Campus Tallaght Hospital 6-2 Figure 6.2 Children’s Hospital Satellite Centre Locations The new children’s hospital at St James’s Hospital will have 380 in-patient beds along with 93 day care beds. In conjunction with the satellite centres, the National Paediatric Hospital Project will cater for over 320,000 annual out-patient visits and non-consultant clinics along with approximately 120,000 urgent care cases per annum. 84% of the out-patient clinics will be provided at the new children’s hospital at St James’s Hospital with the remainder provided at the satellite centres. With respect to urgent care it is envisaged that 59% will be treated at the new children’s hospital with the remainder split evenly between the two satellite centres. For each location (new children’s hospital at the St James’s Hospital campus and the satellite centres), the transport strategy and impact appraisal is set out as follows: Introduction; Methodology; Receiving Environment; Characteristics of the Proposed Development; Potential Impact of the Proposed Development; Ameliorative, Remedial or Reductive Measures Predicted Impact of the Proposed Development Monitoring; and Reinstatement. A Mobility Management Plan has been prepared for the St James’s Hospital campus (St James’s Hospital Campus - Smarter Travel Programme) and is currently being implemented with the support of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) ‘Smarter Travel Workplaces Programme’. The new children’s hospital has been planned for, and taken into account as part of the development of the Mobility Management Plan. The Mobility Management Plan will also be rolled out at each of the existing three children’s hospitals to improve mobility awareness and to reduce car dependency among staff before they relocate to the new children’s hospital on the St James’s Hospital campus. Mobility Management Plans will also be implemented at both the children’s hospital satellite centres at Tallaght Hospital campus and at Connolly Hospital campus. EIS National Paediatric Hospital Project – Chapter 6: Traffic and Transportation 6.1. St James’s Hospital Campus 6.1.1. Introduction 6.1.1.1. Transportation Planning Context Transport planning policy and framework, both nationally and locally, is set out in the planning documents outlined in this section. They particularly emphasise the importance of travel demand management, with each of the planning documents identifying the need to implement mobility management plans at workplaces, schools and residential areas. 6.1.1.2. Dublin City Development Plan 2011-2017 This document sets out various policies that need to be considered during the planning for, and subsequent development of the new children’s hospital within Dublin City. The relevant policies and objectives are outlined below: It is the policy of Dublin City Council: SI4 - To promote and facilitate the provision of Metro North, DART Underground, the electrification of the Maynooth Line, the expansion of Luas and the Quality Bus Network in order to achieve the strategic transport objectives of the National Transportation Authority’s ‘A Platform for Change’ and support the implementation of the Transport 21 Programme for Dublin city and the region. SI12 - To promote best practice mobility management and travel planning to balance car use to capacity and provide for necessary mobility via sustainable transport modes It is an objective of Dublin City Council SIO6 - To promote Park and Ride at suitable locations in co-operation with neighbouring local authorities. SIO30 - To require Travel Plans and Transport Assessments for all relevant new developments and/or extensions or alterations to existing developments as outlined in Appendices 5 and 6. Within ‘Appendix 5-Travel Plans’, there is a note that “As a general guideline, Dublin City Council may request a Travel Plan if an existing or proposed commercial development has the potential to employ over 100 workers’. This is in line with the threshold indicated in the Department of Transport’s, ‘Smarter Travel, A 6-3 Sustainable Transport Future 2009 – 2020’”. SIO31- To review and monitor Travel Plans through the Dublin City Council Mobility Management Section The 2011-2017 Dublin City Development Plan encourages a modal shift from private car usage to alternative modes (public transport, cycling, walking) through the following policies and objectives summarised below: Ensure integration between land use, zoning and transportation (Section 5.1.4.1 Integrated Land-use and Transportation), Discourage commuter car parking provided with new developments. The development of Quality Bus Corridors (QBCs) within the city centre (Objective SIO7); The provision of improved cycle facilities through the development of a network of strategic cycle ways, cycle parking and recreational cycle routes (Policy SC3); Support for the measures currently being implemented or proposed by the Rail Procurement Agency (Luas Cross City, Metro North), Iarnród Éireann (DART Underground), and other agencies to enhance capacity on existing lines and services and provide new infrastructure (Policy SI4); The provision of park and ride facilities at a number of locations on the outskirts of the city (Objective SIO6); The development of a city centre transportation interchange to promote the provision of an integrated public transport system (Policy SI3); The allocation of significant additional priority at traffic signals for pedestrians in order to achieve a greater degree of pedestrian safety and to enhance the environment for pedestrians (Objective SIO23, Objective SIO27). The Dublin City Development Plan supports the provision and development of the city centre Integrated Transport Network, which designates Heuston as one of the key transport interchanges in the city as shown in Figure 6.3. The new children’s hospital is well connected to the Heuston Station and is 5 minutes by Luas, 15 minutes on foot and 7-8 minutes by dublinbike. St. James’s Hospital Campus Figure 6.3 City Centre Integrated Transport (Source: Dublin City Development Plan) 6-4 The key Green Routes identified in the Dublin City Development Plan are shown in Figure 6.4. These Green Routes will provide high quality pedestrian and cycle routes through the city centre. The new children’s hospital is located adjacent to the proposed Green Route that runs along the existing Luas Red Line. St. James’s Hospital Campus Figure 6.4 City Centre Green Routes (Source: Dublin City Development Plan) EIS National Paediatric Hospital Project – Chapter 6: Traffic and Transportation 6.1.1.3. Dublin City Draft Development Plan 2016-2022 Dublin City Council has begun its preparation of the new draft City Development Plan, covering the period from 2016 to 2022. This plan is intended to set out a shared vision and direction for the future development of the city. An ‘issues paper’ was published by Dublin City Council in 2014. Section 5 of this document sets out the key issues the city faces in terms of ‘movement and transport’. It states that transport policy and objectives of the new draft City Development Plan will be guided by the objectives of the National Transport Authority’s Draft Transport Strategy 2011-2030 and the related 2013-2018 Integrated Implementation Plan. Both of these documents are summarised in subsequent sections of this chapter. The ‘Smarter Travel – A Sustainable Transport Future’ (Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport) is also acknowledged as being influential in encouraging the growth of more sustainable modes of transport. The ‘issues paper’ provides statistics on the comparative number of trips by travel mode crossing the canal cordon inbound in the weekday morning commuter peak period (between 7 and 10 am) between 2006 and 2013 (Source – National Transport Authority cordon survey). The overall number of trips has seen a slight decline of 7.3% to 192,188, reflective of the economic downturn during that period, with car mode share reducing by 11.4%.