Liffey Cycle Route: NTA to share review report with city council in August

A finalised version of a review of the Liffey Cycle Route — a segregated cycle path along the capital’s quays — will be shared with Dublin City Council in August, the National Transport Authority said yesterday.

A spokesman for the National Transport Authority (NTA) said: “The NTA is reviewing all of the available options with its design team. It is expected that the NTA will provide the outcome of its review to Dublin City Council during August.”

Last week this website reported how the NTA confirmed to this website that a report looking at options for a segregated cycle route was again delayed. It had been due to be shared with the council in late June.

A spokesman said that the “report is close to completion, but still requires some work.” Consultants undertaking the review were given wide-ranging scope to look at all previous options and any new ones.

The NTA took over the planning of the project last August when councillors were supposed to be on the verge of selecting between two route options and the pre-planning had taken around six years.

The review — now delayed twice — will bring the pre-planning stage of the route beyond seven years and from pre-planning to construction is likely to at least extend to eight years or longer.

On Sunday morning around 250-300 people cycled along the quays in protest of the delay on the route (pictured above), where people cycling already outnumber the number of cars by up to a ratio of almost 2:1.

Kieran Ryan of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, which organised the protest cycle, said that they would re-run the event every month until the Route was built. He urged attendees to also lobby politicians to support the route.

The Ireland edition of The Times reported yesterday that Eileen Carton, the wife of Peter Carton who was involved with a collision along the quays, said her husband was losing his leg because of the delay in building the project.

He was one of two collisions in recent weeks along the quays which left people who were cycling with serious injuries.

Because the review of the route is not yet finished, the authority yesterday indicated that it was unable to say what type planning process the project is likely to proceed under — different processes are used depending on if lands which are road roads or streets are used or if the possible impact is viewed to be wide enough.

For example if any park land was used it would likely come under what’s called Part 8 where councillors have the final say; if the route sticks to the existing roads and streets it could be build under the Road Traffic Acts powers to provide for cycling or bus infrastructure; and if potential impacts are seen as wide enough the project might need an Environmental Impact Assessment and go to An Bord Pleanála.

If boardwalks are used the project would also need a foreshore licence and the ministerial approval which comes with such.


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5 comments

  1. Good god, if they go with a boardwalk it will underline how how clueless the consultants & NTA are with regards to cycling as a mode of transport.

    Reply
  2. I refuse to believe that the NTA would be stupid enough to opt for the boardwalk solution. Not only is is clearly terrible for cyclists, but as a pedestrian, I love strolling along the boardwalks and I’d love to see more built for pedestrians only along the entire length of the quays.

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  3. If I remember correctly the previous idea was that the pedestrians would use the boardwalk and the cyclists would use the footpath. The problem was that at the bridges the cyclists and pedestrians merge at a point where they both pile up while they wait for the pedestrian light to change (30 seconds out of every 5 minutes probably). This would have been chaos so I hope they don’t try to revive that.

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  4. If Boardwalks are used, they won’t be used by cyclists. We don’t want to trade one mixed environment for another plus wet boardwalk is dangerous for cycling.

    Reply
  5. One agency taking too long so another agency takes over the project and takes almost a year to produce an initial review. Heads would roll for that kind of nonsense in the private sector.

    Reply

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