civil engineering - roads
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF IRELAND – TRANSYT 12 TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT
O’Connor Sutton Cronin & Associates (OCSC) have undertaken a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) for the proposed Children’s Hospital of Ireland (CHoI) on behalf of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board. The CHoI will house up to 392 in-patient beds and 53 day-care beds along with out-patient and emergency facilities. This is to be located on the Mater Hospital campus between the North Circular Road and Eccles Street in Dublin. This new facility will accommodate the relocation and expansion of the Children’s University Hospital on Temple Street and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.
As part of the TIA, classified junction turning counts were carried out at various junctions surrounding the proposed CHOI and this data has been analysed for peak hour traffic flows in the study area. The traffic generation potential of the Children’s Hospital of Ireland has been assessed using a combination of modal split data from the National Transport Authority and trip rate data extracted from the Trics planning database.
In urban conditions, it is recognised that road junction are the key determinant of road network capacity. Hence assessments have focused on the impact of traffic generated by the development on junctions in the area surrounding the site. Junctions have been assessed using the TRL TRANSYT 12 programme for ‘Base Case’ and ‘With Development’ conditions.
Traffic management options for Eccles Street were also studied along with the development access. Car parking assessment was carried out for the proposed CHOI and it is considered that a 1,000 space car park would be both sufficient and reasonable to cater for demand at the proposed development, with the majority of parking being reserved for patients/visitors. The Mobility Management Plan was prepared as a transportation demand management tool for the proposed CHOI.
