4: Quality of the Street
While the quality of materials employed on the newly paved sections is good, the attempt to redefine the space has had limited success. The street layout continues to maintain a high level of on-street parking at the expense of wider pavements, with small build-outs facilitating streetlamps, bins and other items. The effect in places can be quite visually chaotic, particularly during loading times, when large vehicles jostle for space with pedestrians and shoppers. The general narrowness of pavements limits the space afforded to pedestrians who are the main users of the street, and reduces the potential to have outdoor displays in front of shops or to create an outdoor cafĂŠ culture along the street.
It is clear that where wider pavements have been provided, street-life follows; particularly at spots which have a sunny position, as seen above. Rebalancing the street layout of Capel Street in favour of the pedestrian should be relatively easy to achieve by removing sections of the existing street parking from either one or both sides of the street and extending the pavements. As noted previously, Capel Street and its environs are well served by both private and publicallyowned car parks and by on-street parking on secondary streets such as Wolfe Tone Street and Little Britain Street. The benefits gained to the street from increased pedestrian space will far outweigh the loss of parking spaces. In order to allay the concerns of businesses who might place higher value on customer parking (e.g. furniture shops, hardware shops), a time limit system could be applied to the remaining parking places, ensuring a turnover of spaces. Street Clutter Streets make up nearly eighty per cent of public space in our urban areas. As a result, they often become cluttered by all kinds of objects that are unnecessary, badly designed or poorly located, and which lack any coordination. The result is streets with physical and visual obstructions that make them feel degraded and uncared for. It has been proven that excessive use of traffic signage and other street furniture has a negative impact on the success of a street. Capel Street, as with many streets in Dublin, suffers from a profusion of clutter, particularly at its northern end. It is essential than an audit be conducted of the Capel Street area to minimise the visual intrusion of street furniture, and to maximise the good design quality of recent public realm improvement works at the lower end of the street. Proper coordination should take place between relevant departments within Dublin City Council, service providers and utility companies to maintain a clutter-free thoroughfare.
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