Three high-profile cycle routes in Dublin which were due to start construction by the end of this year will now be delayed until next year.
Two of the routes are on-streets — the Clontarf Cycle Route and the Fitzwilliam Cycle Route, both now due to start Q1 2020. The delay could be a matter of a month or a few months, the Dublin City Council did not confirm which or give a reason for the delays.
The council also confirmed that work on the Royal Canal Greenway Phase 2, between the Docklands and North Strand Road, is set to be finished in April 2020. Phase 2 links the existing canals route with the Clontarf route at North Strand Road.
But delay is also happening on the next phase of the Royal Canal Greenway, from the North Strand Road to Phibsborough. Earlier this year it was expected that works would start in late Q2 2019, but now the project is set to be re-tendered for by the end of Q3 2019. This means that work on the route is also unlikely to happen before next year, on a project has previously been beset by delays.
The Clontarf Cycle Route is a relatively short route at under 3km, but it will link the city centre with the northern section of the S2S Dublin Bay greenway, creating a 11km continuously segregated route. It will be the first city centre to city council boundary route to be built in Dublin which is segregated from motor traffic.
It will include continuous cycle paths and should make cycling safe and attractive on a route which currently is shared with buses, taxis and general motor traffic.
The Clontarf Cycle Route route will be a wall-to-wall project involving major ground works, so, it is due to take two years to be built, with the council giving a completion date of December 2021.
The Fitzwilliam Cycle Route — Dublin’s first car parking-protected cycle route — will include more minor works with a construction time frame of less than a year. The council said that work is set to be finished in November 2020.
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In fairness, I don’t think the Fitzwilliam route was due to commence this year. The time-frame of Q1 2019 was proposed in the consultation document. However, following the consultation, additional works related to services were identified. It makes sense to do all these works at the same time, so the timelines were pushed out.
I thought it was going to be 2021; if it’s now in the plan for 2020, it’s a good result.
Council Update July 2019: “The detailed design is currently being finalised, an advance tender package will be issued at end of Q3 to carry out utilities works between Leeson St/Adelaide Road junction and Baggot St junction. Contractor for main package of works to be on site in Q4.”
https://trello.com/c/uBgC4E8Z/5-fitzwilliam-cycle-route
Thanks Cian, I wasn’t aware there was a plan to commence before the end of 2019. I remember hearing at one of the consultations that the service works would push the project back a year or two. I’m just happy to see money allocated to get this done. This project will be an example of how well designed infrastructure works for all users.