COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Guest writer, Sam Boles, recently cycled by construction works for flood defences and cycle path upgrades on City Quay in Dublin and to his surprise provision for cycling remained unusually protected.
Below are some pictures of the roadworks under way on City Quay. I took them three weeks ago. They seemed to me to be a somewhat remarkable example of a cycle route being catered for during roadworks. The first image shows signs highlighting in advance that there are works ahead in the cycle track:
The sign reads “cycle lane closed ahead”, the type which usually inspires dread:
But thankfully, here the users of the cycle path have been considered. In this case, the roadworks themselves are seemingly an upgrade to the previous layout. The old route passed under low-hanging tree branches in one direction and was on road in the other direction:
A little later, while travelling along the Grand Canal route, I came upon the following. This is the more typical shoddy approach, where a large pothole is marked with a traffic cone which blocks a lot of the width of the path:
Elsewhere, roadworks are not handled as well:
#FreeTheCycleLanes cycle lane for construction so external costs dumped on cyclists’ safety? @dublincycling pic.twitter.com/KeZj2pQu4E
— Cyclistie (@Cyclistie) June 23, 2015
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I hate when there are Road works on the Road and nothing to do with the Cyclepath they put a warning sign for the benefit of Motorists on the Cycle path and block up half of it. Why should we suffer for something that has nothing to do with us.
Another thing is those Mobile Electronic warning displays that warn of Road closures or else the Bus Gate on College Green which is 3km away from where you are on the way into the City ,they put this on the shared use Cyclepath and Pedestrian path outside Fairview Pk and also at other locations around the City. They dont want to block up the Road for Motorists but do not mind blocking the Cyclepath.