The €6 million regeneration of the area between Grafton Street and Dawson Street in Dublin city centre, first announced more than a decade ago, will finally get under way in the coming weeks.

The two-year construction project involves a revamp of South Anne Street, Duke Street, Lemon Street and the lanes which run between them, with Leinster granite paving, tree and flower planting, water bottle filling stations, a play area, public seating and bicycle stands.

Dublin City Council will also for the first time introduce automated rising bollards, instead of flexible wands, to stop delivery drivers from entering the zone outside authorised hours.

The scheme aims to capitalise on the pedestrianisation of South Anne Street four years ago, and the enthusiasm for outdoor dining which grew during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Duke Street is currently pedestrianised at its western end, from just past Duke Lane to where it meets Grafton Street. Following consultation with disabled people organisations, it will remain open to traffic at its eastern end from Dawson Street to Duke Lane and will have a disabled parking bay, but no general parking.

Lemon Street will remain pedestrianised but will be upgraded with a new play space.

Deliveries will be permitted from 6am to 11am only. However, the council said it has already experienced difficulties on South Anne Street with delivery vehicles continuing to enter the space all day, driving over the plastic bollards and parking on footpaths.

To counteract this, the new scheme will use retractable bollards at the entrances to South Anne Street and west of Duke Lane on Duke Street, which can be raised or lowered into the ground automatically, to prevent entry outside permitted hours.

A planning application was lodged in December 2022 and approved in April 2023, with the project then subject to detailed design and tenders for construction. Work is finally to get under way in May and could take up to two years the council said, but will phased to minimise disruption.

The scheme was part of the Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan, published in October 2013, which envisaged a €14 million investment over three years in the area between Dawson Street and South Great George’s Street.

The repaving of Grafton Street was completed in 2015 and work then began on the streets to its west including part of Wicklow Street and Harry Street and Balfe Street which leads to the Westbury Hotel. Work was in recent years completed on Chatham Street, but significant elements remain unrealised, including a civic plaza and urban park at St Andrew’s Church at the junction of St Andrew’s Street and Trinity Street, the repaving of South William Street and Drury Street, as well as the redevelopment of the South Anne Street Duke Street area.