Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

7.3 Movement Strategy
The Metro Quarter is located around the Swords Metro Stop. Its extent runs
along the R132 as far north as the Malahide roundabout and as far south as the
future slip roads accessing the underground car parks and ‘Metro Box’*. To the
east and west, the Metro Quarter will abut the adjacent development areas of
Pavilions and Barrysparks, however it will have an influence on all approaches
into the quarter from these developments.
The Metro Quarter will be the multi modal (multi level) transport hub and focal
point of movement to and from the town. An enhanced network of roads,
cycle/footpaths and public transport provision is designed to feed this hub and
promote reduced car dependency within the town as a whole. In addition to this,
Metro Quarter fulfils a vital role in connecting seamlessly between the existing
Town Centre and new development areas whilst overcoming the severance of
the R132. The development either side of the R132 will facilitate the bridging over
the roadway and metro line at the Metro Quarter. These bridging elements will
be in the form of public streets and will permit a new dedicated bus route to be
established, thus forming effective links between east and west areas of Swords.
Connectivity between the Metro Quarter and local/regional areas will be
supported in the following way:
● Metro Stop located in the central median of the R132 providing access to
Dublin City, Dublin Airport and the future development lands at Lissenhall.
● Bus stops located along the R132 will be retained for national, regional and
local services.
● Future bus stops will be located along “The Rise” on the Metro Plaza level
(+7.5m) serving local east west routes. This route may also accommodate taxis.
● Cycle routes and provision for bike parking will be located along R132. Eastwest
cycle routes and parking will be provided at the Metro Plaza level.
● In order to maintain operational capacity, left in – left out access ramps will
be provided to underground car parks in both directions along the R132.
Connectivity between the Metro Quarter and surrounding developments will be
supported in the following way:
● At the Metro Plaza level, at-grade connections will be provided to “Central
Street” and “The Rise” on the Pavilions side (see Section 6.0), as well as
“Upper Street” and “Eastern Avenue” on the Barrysparks side (see Section 8.0).
● At the R132 level, at grade access will be provided into the Pavilions and
Barrysparks developments to the east and west.
● Pedestrian footpaths will be located along the R132 and two pedestrian
crossing points between the path and the Metro Stop will be located at each
end of the platform.
● Vertical access between the R132 level and the Metro Plaza will be provided
in three locations:
– At the end of the metro platform there will be two escalators and one
lift between the two levels.
– On each side of the R132 there will be stair access along with a lift
between the two levels.
* 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.
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
Specific Local Objectives:
● The Rise and Western Avenue will be between 12 and 14 metres
wide (subject to confirmation of detailed traffic engineering design
requirements) and at a slope of less than 1:20 to accommodate
buses in both directions, in addition to pedestrian and cycle
movements.
● Dedicated cycle routes and cycle parking will be provided in both
directions along R132 and east-west at Metro plaza level.
● Vertical circulation of high architectural quality will be provided on
both sides of the R132 as well as at the Metro Platform to access
the Metro Plaza.
Part XI Scheme currently on public display
8 0