The monthly meeting of Dublin City Council has given planning approval to the Clontarf to City Centre Cycle Route, subject to amendments that the route be redesigned.
The €7.35 million route is to run from Clontarf to Connolly Station at Amiens Street, via North Strand and Fairview. Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2018.
An approved amendment tabled by Cllr Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party) and Cllr Andrew Montague (Labour) seeks for the route to be redesigned to make it more cycling-friendly. Project approval is subject to the following amendments:
- The locations of bus stops shall be examined and all bus stops along the route shall be redesigned to segregate buses and bicycles as recommended by the National Cycle Manual.
- The junctions and traffic signalling on the route shall be designed
a) to provide for pedestrians in line with the Design Manual For Urban Roads and Streets and
b) to provide for full segregation of bicycles and motor vehicles.- The widths of cycle facilities and buffers are to be in line with the specifications in the National Cycle Manual. If there are pinch points where this is not possible, such locations are to be subject to special design consideration and a safety audit.
The amendment was approved by 42 to 10 votes.
Another vote to increase the right hand turning lane to Fairview Strand was also approved. That motion proposed by Councillor Ciaran O’Moore and seconded by Cllr Naoise O’Muirí was approved by 33 votes to 24. It effectively means that a planned removal of a general traffic lane of 350 meters will instead be reduced to 298 metres.
Cllr Damian O’Farrell (independent) said it was a disgrace that the Part 8 approval was going ahead without debate, while other councillors outlined how there was extensive debate about the project at the previous city council meeting and at a meeting about the project between the monthly council meetings.
The city council also approved the Dublin City Council Control of On-Street Stationless Bicycle Hire Bye-Laws 2017.
The approval of the bylaws also included an amendment from the transport committee which removed a previous suggestion to totally ban advertising on the bicycles. Instead only alcohol advertising is banned. It said: “The Operator shall agree proposed livery on all bicycles with the Council. No advertising for alcohol products will be permitted on bicycles”.
This is excellent news for Commuters and Tourists alike.
Good to see the National Cycle Manual being enforced. Pity that the project didn’t consider it from the start.
This will be a two way cycle path on one side of the street, right?
At the transport spc last week the city council said they will be adding 3000 bike parking spaces to the city over the next 6-12 months. They said it will cost €1m, and a loss of €750,000 /year lost revenue from parking. Are there published plans for where these are going?
@e_slat it is not yet confirmed how the council will respond to the amendment to make the route safer.
@cian ginty So the current proposal is two paths on either side of the street?
Olivia Kelly in the Irishtimes has written a very slanted article on this, as per her usual car-centric MO. Calls the development “controversial”, focuses overwhelmingly on negatives for car drivers, and quotes mainly from anti-proposal sources. Read only if you want to be frustrated.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/traffic-lanes-to-be-lost-to-accommodate-dublin-cycle-path-1.3242754
I thought that short stretch where cars lose one lane was to “save the trees”? So it seems that cutting down a few trees for a cycle lane is not acceptable and reducing the amount of space dedicated to motorists is not acceptable. So the hierarchy of needs is motorists first and foremost, then civic amenities like parks and finally cyclists probably somewhere below the view from houses and cars on the Clontarf road.
I’m all for parks and I am glad an option that didn’t reduce Fairview park (even in the fairly minor way planned) could be avoided but I can’t really give a damn about anyone who was against cutting down the trees but then turns around and complains about the alternative because it will inconvenience them while they are driving past the park.