COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Based on covering the same design flaws over and over again, IrishCycle.com launched the CyclingForAll.ie campaign to try to improve standard in cycling design — this article covers another reason why we urgently need improved standards.
As more housing and roads are planned and built, the more CyclingForAll.ie is key. Improved standards is not something that can wait until after cycling gets more funding.
People involved with cycling (including the editor of this website) too often think about cycling projects, but improved standards for — and an improved way of thinking about — cycling infrastructure needs also to apply to housing, schools, universities, around large road projects, with the likes of the planned MetroLink in Dublin and many other types of projects both publicly and privately developed.
Today, the Limerick Cycle Design twitter account used Mungret Gate — a housing developed 5km from Limerick City Centre — as a solid example of common problematic designs which are still being implemented. The development is by the Homeland Group but it should be stressed that these are still common issues and Limerick City and County Council should be picking up on this issues..
The developer boosts: “Mungret Gate is ideally located just 5km from Limerick City Centre. Set in a well-established and well-serviced area, the homes at Mungret Gate benefit from peaceful countryside surroundings with plenty of activities nearby including a playground, stunning scenery and 2km of walk and cycle paths.”
The reality of the cycle paths is stunning for all the wrong reasons as Limerick Cycle Design explains:
Is it really so difficult to design cycle infrastructure? This effort at Mungret Gate by @homelandgroup_ gets worse by the week. We’re not even bothering to try and build separate infra for cycle and foot traffic anymore – 1 concrete path with a line of paint will do. pic.twitter.com/ILw25TokRx
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
It gets worse…
Of course that’s not all. A while back I highlighted this incredibly dangerous design, thinking it must have been a joke but no, cyclists are spat into the carriageway to fend for themselves heading towards the junction. This was done for their safety apparently. pic.twitter.com/FaTVYkthQQ
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
A basic of segregation for cycling in the Netherlands is to segregate at tricky points first (ie junctions and bus stops etc), but in Ireland we do it the other way around:
Perhaps there wasn’t enough space to build a safe junction for cycle traffic? pic.twitter.com/tUNyMl5UWN
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
Users of minor side roads and private entrances should be yield footpaths and cycle paths, and design should reenforce this. But again the opposite is happening:
Naturally enough, pedestrian and cycle traffic must yield to motor traffic at all times in this residential development – even for motor traffic entering cul de sacs. pic.twitter.com/MaSJLhoVRh
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
In the original design there was no pedestrian crossings to cross the main road at the entrance to this housing development but somebody — maybe the designers, audit team or the council — decided that was a bit too car-centric.
But the crossings installed are shared Toucan crossings — these mix walking and cycling and, for that reason, are disliked by both cycling advocates and disability groups. Usually the design isn’t very usable by people on bike:
At some point somebody probably said this junction is worse than useless so they decided to horse in Toucan crossings on each arm to ‘make it safe’. If anyone can explain how cycle traffic are supposed to negotiate this junction, let me know, in less than 10,000 words please. pic.twitter.com/2F2J80rO7Z
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
The development very close to a primary school but nobody thought of joining the cycling infrastructure up:
St. Nessan’s primary school is only a couple of hundred metres from this development but there is no provision for safe cycling between the two. It is abundantly clear that our local authority has no interest in creating a cycle network. pic.twitter.com/Wk98cLPNv5
— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) May 7, 2019
And the final tweet from Limerick Cycle Design has a key message: “So, if you’re interested in better transport and planning in Limerick, consider voting for someone who you think is genuinely interested in same. #LocalElections2019”.
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You can check which councillors and candidates are signed up to CyclingForAll.ie on this spreadsheet and send councillors and candidates not signed up to do so via http://cyclingforall.ie/cllrs/
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One of the big issues for me is that national design guidance (for what it’s worth) is ignored, or varied at will, with no consequences for the specifier, designer, contractor or road safety auditor.
Unless the designers (generally private road engineering consultancies) have been abroad to undertake a post-graduate qualification in infrastructure design for cycling it will be of hit-and-miss quality. Irish universities do not offer such courses as far as I know.
The ultimate funder of most of the cycle path, track or lane infrastructure is the Department of Transport. It does not have the capacity to audit the projects of road authorities to ensure design and construction compliance.
This was foreseen in the National Cycling Policy Framework of 2009.
The government have said that €3 billion spent on rural broadband will have benefits beyond what the costs suggest.
Maybe….. I haven’t seen any concrete figures on that beyond official spin. But maybe.
However, it HAS been proven that investment in safe segregated cycle infrastructure does indeed result in a net benefit to society, well beyond the initial costs. So how come we aren’t seeing €3 billion being invested in safe segregated cycle infrastructure ! How come we aren’t seeing a governmental push to promote an all-Ireland cycle-network that would join all the towns and villages and give some freedom back to rural dwellers who are increasingly becoming trapped by car-culture.