Over 420 people have signed a petition set up last week to ask Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to trial a segregated cycle route along the coast from Blackrock to Sandycove for one year.
The proposal to trial a route follows a previous National Transport Authority (NTA) plan, released in 2016, for the S2S Dublin Bay route to use Seapoint Avenue. The new suggestion extends this to Dún Laoghaire and onto Sandycove.
It is understood that it had a mix of support and opposition locally. Groups such as s2s.ie want the route to mainly run along the coastal side of the Dart tracks.
Like the NTA plan, it would involve using existing road space by turning some roads into one-way for motor vehicles while retaining access to all locations along the route. Making such roads one-way, when nearby there’s alternatives in the other direction, is a common method of creating space for cycling used in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
Sean Barry, who started the petition, said the route would work by having one way for traffic along the coast all the way from Blackrock to Sandycove. He said: “This will allow people to cycle both ways on the sea side of the road. It should connect with the cycleway on the Blackrock bypass in order to connect with the schools. Use wands and armadillos to close off one lane of the street to provide a safe cycling environment.”
Barry added: “We need a safe place for our children and adults to cycle on the road for commuting to school and work. This would also provide for recreational cycling and people to enjoy the coast in a safe and peaceful manner.”
He said that at the moment there is no continuous safe cycle route for people in the area and that most people currently don’t cycle due to the dangerous nature of the roads.
He added: “This could provide an impetus for cycling with a link all the way from Booterstown to Sandycove. There’s been talk of a cycleway along the coast for over 20 years and still no sign of it.”
Previous NTA plan for the S2S on Seapoint Ave:
...That's the end of the article. Keep scrolling if you want to the comments, but IrishCycle.com *NEEDS* readers like you to keep it that way. It only requires a small percentage of readers to give a bit each month or every year to keep IrishCycle.com's journalism open to all. Thank you.