Latest: Councillor claims Civic Plaza plans for College Green is creating 'chaos'
New trees, public benches and 32 fountains representing every county in Ireland are among the plans for a vehicle-free College Green in Dublin.
An Bord Pleanala is hearing submissions from Dublin City Council on plans for a new civic plaza that will prevent all traffic from travelling east to west.
Green Party Councillor Ciaran Cuffe says the plans are exactly what the capital needs.
He said: "It's about time that we took a little bit of space away from traffic and gave it back to the pedestrian.
"I think it'll be a really child-friendly space, there'll be trees, seats, events and programming. I think it'll be a fantastic initiative."
But objectors say the plan is bad news for local businesses and commuters.
David McGuinness from Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann says recent changes to the Luas Cross City were always going to increase traffic.
Mr McGuinness said: "I think they should have thought of that before they put a tram through the city centre. They are talking about planning in the city.
"We knew there were going to be problems once the Luas went down, that's why we offered alternative routes for the taxi sector through College Green.
"Unfortunately, they don't seem to want to listen to us."
Dublin City Council says the plaza will prioritise pedestrians first, followed by cyclists, then public transport, creating a world-class space for the 21st century.
Independent Councillor Mannix Flynn disagreed, saying: "This is chaos being created by appallingly bad planning by Dublin city council and by the NTA."
Plans for the Civic Plaza at College Green in Dublin City Centre are to be discussed today.
The An Board Pleanála Oral Hearing will get underway this morning.
It comes as taxi drivers are set to be banned from travelling through College Green southbound at peak-times from today.
"We are totally disappointed in this. We were hoping that it would be put back," said Irish Taxi Drivers' Federation President, Joe Heron.
"We have asked for a meeting with the minister to discuss this whole situation and we were hoping that it would be put back for a week so instead of today it would be this day next week if it was going to happen.
"Our problem with it is that they have given us no alternative route."
