Lord mayor says “cyclists get everything they want” in sub-standard Liffey Cycle Route Option

— Lord mayor to open S2S cycle route this morning after he makes fresh non-factual claims on cycling.

— Barriers come down on S2S Dublin Bay cycleway in Clontarf.

After his recent comments saying he does not know any cyclists who bring bags of shopping on their bicycles, lord mayor, Cllr Brendan Carr (Labour), has said “cyclists get everything they want” in a sub-standard solution for the Liffey Cycle Route.

He made the comments at the Dublin City Council transport committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of him launching the S2S cycle route this morning.

According to local reports, work is still needed on the route but the final barriers on the “missing link” in the middle of the northside S2S Dublin Bay Cycling and Walking Route were taken down last night in advance of its official launch this morning.

On Wednesday the lord mayor spoke against Option 7 of the Liffey Cycle Route and said cyclists would be no worse off with the SUV-standard Option 8, which includes a shared surface marked with a 0.85 metre footpath beside a 2 metre wide two-way cycle path against the quay wall.

Option 8 which mixes walking and cycling and Option 7 which diverts cars off the quays are both tonne re-evaluated. Both options deal with a pinch point in the quays around Smithfield, between Blackhall Place and Church Street.

Despite a Dublin City Council report stating that the air quality changes would be “overall negligible” and “at worse minor” with Option 7, Cllr Carr, said that Option 7 would be detrimental to residents because of extra fumes “and that’s my full understanding of it”.

Cllr Carr, a guest at the committee meeting, said: “We can’t just dismiss residents and dismiss motorists in the interest of cyclists… The proposal for Option 8 is giving the cyclists everything they want — they still have a run from a to b”.

Cllr Carr said: “Option 7 is so negative for the people of Dublin, I can’t understand why it was proposed in the first place. I do have concerns in the new option [8] that traffic is going to be delayed going down the quays, which is already chockablock.

He added: “Cyclists are no worse off in Option 8 than in Option 7 that I can see. They still have a flow down the quays, so, I don’t understand a big different there.”

After Cllr Carr left the meeting his previous comments on shopping by bicycle were condemned by Cllr Paul Hand (independent), who said the mayor’s comments were wrong. The mayor’s comments on shopping by bike pushed renewed use of the #shopbybike hashtag on Twitter.

IrishCycle.com will have a full report on the Liffey Cycle Route at the weekend.


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5 comments

  1. AT the S2S section launch this morning, the mayor did the cycle-a-bit photo op and I’ve never seen someone more uncomfortable to be on a bike. He did his civic duty with all the enthusiasm of a bulldog chewing wasps. The great success that S2S will be won’t come soon enough to support Option 7.

    Reply
  2. In other news: Convicted wife-batterer, Bren Gunn, says he gave his wife exactly what she wanted and deserved.

    Reply
  3. Does Carr actually believe that (he’s a fool) or he knows it is far worse for cyclists and syas it anyway (he’s a liar). My money is on liar. It’s been clear for quite a while that he hates cyclists and cycling. Pathetic excuse for a human being, let alone public representative.

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  4. I’ve had another look at the webcast for the recent DCC transport meeting. Regarding #8 Brendan O’Brien says that if they implement that option and if they then find that there are problems with buses being delayed by cars getting stuck at the pinch-points then they’ll have to revisit whether to allow the single land of cars on the quays.

    So, they propose to build a new boardwalk which will cost upwards of €3 million, and then, heck they might have to change the plan afterwards anyway. WTF!

    FFS, just go with #7.

    Reply

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