Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said he expects proposals to restrict traffic driving through Dublin city centre to start coming into effect from August.
Mr Ryan said the city centre needs a lift and the creation of more space for walking, cycling and public transport would make it a more attractive place to work, live, shop and go out at night.
The draft Dublin city transport plan aims to encourage drivers who want to drive across the city centre to other destinations to drive around the central area and not through it.
Measures included in the plan would see Bachelor's Walk and Aston Quay closed to motorists and the removal of car traffic from Parliament Street and Customs House Quay.
The results of a consultation on the plan were published this week and showed support levels of more than 80% for proposals to take space from cars in Dublin city centre.
Head of Technical Services with Dublin City Council Brendan O'Brien said the plan concentrates on "the heart of the city centre - the quays and Pearse Street areas, O'Connell Street, and so on - to reduce the amount of traffic in the city centre area".
He said access would still be allowed, for example, for deliveries and for people to reach various car parks, with the plan aimed at people who drive through the city centre who "don't need to do that".
Mr O'Brien said public transport is being held up, and traffic volumes are making it harder to implement cycling and walking plans that he says everybody would like to see.
He added that, generally, unnecessary driving though the city centre does not "contribute" to the area.
Mr O'Brien said over the lifetime of the plan which runs until 2028, it is hoped to introduce some of the plaza concepts and traffic-free zones in places like College Green, and Pearse and Tara streets to make the city centre "less hostile" to people when walking, cycling, and using public transport.
Bachelor's Walk will be limited to public transport, taxis, cyclists, and walking and will be out of bounds to private and commercial vehicles, he added.
The junction of O'Connell Bridge and Bachelor's Walk is the busiest for pedestrians in the country, he said, and that these plans are an attempt to reduce the amount of traffic people have to "cope with", switching the the emphasis onto using public transport and to people who are trying to get around by walking.
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Mr O'Brien said Dublin City Council is also aware that public transport initiatives such as Bus Connects, DART, and Metro will start to bring more and more people into the city centre.
He said Dublin Bus submitted that its services are currently suffering because of congestion and Luas Cross City shows there is "nothing new" in the plan, as changes had to be made when it was introduced in 2016 and 2017 to enable it to work.
