Marlborough Street Bridge

The Marlborough Street Bridge is a public transport, cycle and pedestrian bridge linking Marlborough Street and Eden Quay on the north side of the Liffey to Hawkins Street and Burgh Quay on the south side.

What will the Marlborough Street Bridge do?

• It will carry Luas Line BXD (this line will connect the existing Red & Green Lines).
• It will allow for the reorganisation of the Dublin Bus route network through the provision of new cross-city routing possibilities.
• It will provide additional capacity for buses and taxis crossing the River Liffey, as well as providing an additional river crossing for pedestrians and cyclists.
• The Bridge will carry diverted bus and taxi traffic during the construction of Metro North.

How will the Marlborough Street Bridge affect me?

The construction of the bridge will have many positive impacts such as:

• The bridge will be ready to carry Luas Line BXD when required.
• Buses carry the bulk of public transport passengers in Dublin and the bridge will allow Dublin Bus to further revise their network in the City Centre.
• O’Connell Bridge is the busiest walking route in the country with 6,000 pedestrians crossing every hour. It is expected that at least 10% of these pedestrians will use the Marlborough Street Bridge instead, easing pressure on O’Connell Bridge.
• Taxis will be permitted to use the new bridge. Any time savings will result in value for customers.
• Cyclists can use the dedicated cycling facilities on the new bridge avoiding O’Connell Bridge.
• There will be knock-on economic benefits for Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street, opening them up to new commercial opportunities.
• During the construction of Metro North the bridge will carry diverted bus and taxi traffic meaning that a temporary bridge will not need to be built as previously anticipated.

The bridge is approximately 26m wide and 48m long and it will carry:

• The southbound track for Luas Line BXD in the centre. This line will head along Hawkins Street towards Trinity College, then Dawson Street and onto St. Stephen’s Green. 
• Two southbound bus lanes. One lane heading down Hawkins Street and the other turning right onto Burgh Quay.
• Southbound and northbound cycle lanes.
• Footpaths on both sides.

The cost of the bridge is being covered by the NTA (National Transport Authority) through funding provided by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Planning permission for the Bridge was granted by An Bord Pleanála (http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/HA0022.htm) in 2009. Construction on the bridge commenced in December 2011. It will take approximately 18 months to build.