The Grand Canal Pedestrian and Cycle Safety Improvements project — which mainly includes new pedestrian crossings on busy junctions and junction tightening — is another project held up due to the liquidation of the 100-year-old building company SIAC.
Dublin City Council said it is undertaking work aimed at making the site safer.
IrishCycle.com previously reported how Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has also had to make temporary fixes to a half-finished cycle route stalled after SIAC was put into liquidation.
The Grand Canal project is mostly more minor works including crossings, junction tightening, realigning of cycle lanes and short new or extended sections of cycle lanes — see the project drawings in a previous article.
An update on the Grand Canal Route to city councillors said: “The South Grand Canal Cycle Safety Improvements scheme involves the upgrade of existing signalised junctions from Leeson Street Junction to Suir Road junction by ‘tightening’ wide junctions to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and will also provide signalised pedestrian crossings.”
“Main Contract Works on site are currently on hold due to the Liquidation of the Contractor, DCC are awaiting correspondence from the court appointed Liquidator. In the interim, measures have been taken by DCC to ensure public safety is maintained. Temporary Traffic Management measures were removed from a number of locations and footpaths/carriageways reopened,” said the Monthly Management report.
The report added: “Discussions are ongoing to complete remaining minor civil works at Clogher Road & Aughavannagh Road Junctions. This will allow for the commissioning of new traffic lights and the removal of the remaining temporary traffic management items. Any works carried out will be to ensure there is no risk to public safety while a determination is reached on how the remainder of the contract works will be completed.”
Herberton Road bridge eastbound is now a nightmare. Used to be room for two carriageways (one left/straight ahead, one right-turning) + one painted (albeit badly surfaced) cyclelane. Now it’s meant to be one carriageway + one cyclelane – except the road tightening tarmacked over the cycle-lane painted border & since SIAC died it hasn’t been re-painted. So the motorists continue to treat it as a dual-carriageway, leaving no space for cyclists. At peak times it’s impossible to thread through, especially if you have panniers.
Suir Road westbound – the painted edge of the cycle lane just curves into the new extended footpath. Are cyclists meant to evaporate at this point? Or take to the footpath and cross four junctions to get to the shared cycle/pedestrian path heading west along the canal?