Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown cycle map could help you find new short cuts

This somehow passed us by: Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council recently held a public consultation on their extensive draft Cycle Network Map (PDF). It’s from the county’s Cycle Network Review and designed to show the public current cycle routes and planned ones.

There’s three types of routes shown on the map:

As there will be more info with the finished map than shown in the draft PDF above, an online background information report explains:

Red routes highlight busy roads e.g. N11 / Rock Road and a cyclist should have a good level of cycling ability e.g. be able to merge with traffic and turn right at junctions to use these facilities comfortably

Yellow / amber routes: These represent quiet residential or traffic calmed streets and are generally suitable for all users with a basic cycling ability

Green Routes are completely separate from traffic and are ideal for leisure trips or for young children learning to cycle. Please note that these routes are often used by pedestrians and cyclists should give them priority at all times.

As well as giving new cyclists an idea of quite routes, the council explains why the map may be useful to even to experienced cyclists:

“Commuter and the more confident cyclists may favour the most direct routes regardless of the level of traffic and assume these are along the busy trafficked routes. This is often not the case. The routes below show two options between Goatstown and Blackrock. The route in red follows the main traffic routes and the route in blue is the most direct route which utilises parks and residential streets. The additional benefit of the blue route is that you cross the N11 with a dedicated crossing and do not have to travel along it.”