Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

Introduction
The Metro Quarter is the proposed new gateway to Swords and is built around
the opportunity created by the arrival of Metro North. Swords Town Centre will
be served by a Metro North stop located centrally on the R132 in proximity to the
Pavilions and Barrysparks development areas. The Metro Quarter will permit
and promote multi-modal connections at Swords Metro Stop and will create a
hub for movement within Swords as well as providing rapid access to and from
the airport and Dublin city to the south.
The Metro Quarter will be the catalyst for growing Swords identity in the 21st
Century. This presents a unique opportunity to demonstrate on a national and
European stage the ambitions for the town, its people and its future. The
development of the Metro Quarter recognizes this importance and will become
established as a vital orientation node for those arriving in Swords.
Urban design guidance and objectives are put forward within this Masterplan,
which will address the key issues of: movement, public realm, height and
massing, and landscaping.
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
7.0 Metro Quarter
7.1 Characteristics of
Metro Quarter
The Metro Quarter comprises the following key elements:
● A high quality well designed public space, ‘Metro Plaza’ (+7.5m) above the
Swords Metro Stop and the R132.
● A well designed architectural bridge over the R132 linking with the Metro
Plaza and Swords Metro Stop. This bridge will accommodate priority bus
services and pedestrian/cyclist movements and public transport over the
R132 and ensure connectivity between Town Centre/MC zoned lands east and
west of the R132.
● A vehicular road network under the R132/Metro North providing access to
underground car parks east and west of the R132. This network is known as
‘Metro Box’* and access is via ramps directly from the R132.
● High quality, architecturally significant gateway buildings east and west of
the Metro Stop and Metro Plaza.
7.2 R132 Characteristics
The Metro line and Swords Stop has been fixed in an optimal location, given the
constraints of the alignment of the existing R132 and desire to provide a high
standard of access to existing Swords Town Centre. This alignment generates
the core setting out of the realigned R132 running either side of the Metro and
fixes the Swords Stop platform position. The quality of the realigned R132
transport corridor has been enhanced to provide bus corridors, cycle lanes
(integral to the bus lanes) and footpaths within an enhanced tree-lined
landscape setting in both directions through Swords: the aim being to provide a
high level of accessibility at this level to the multimodal transport interchange.
* Metro Box is an underground vehicular connection across the R132, associated ramps, and necessary
realignment of the R132 locally, in order to provide for access to lands zoned ‘Swords Town Centre’
east and west of the R132, as shown in the Fingal Development Plan 2005 to 2011. This Metro Box plan
was adopted under Part 8.
7 9
Top: Section through Metro Quarter as proposed.
Bottom: Section through existing R132/proposed Metro Quarter location.
Purple line indicates present road edges and Fingal County Council ownership.