— Contractor appointed and construction to start Q1 2024.
— Project includes sub-standard 1.4m with-flow cycle track at riverside on Aston Quay.
— Works also to include wider crossings, lengthening bus stops, and removal of slip turn.
Dublin City Council has released drawings for a two-way cycle path using quick-build methods which is due to be constructed this year.
The details include the quayside footpath from O’Connell Bridge to Tara St is to be accessible for the first time in decades, pedestrian crossings will be widened, footpath buildout added and a slip turn at D’Olier Street removed.
The two-way cycle path will start at the southeast corner of O’Connell Bridge at Burgh Quay and link with the existing two-way cycle path on City Quay. The existing South Docklands path in turn links to the cycle routes on Lombard Street East, North Wall Quay, the Royal Canal Route and the Grand Canal Cycleway via Grand Canal Square. At the Talbot Memorial Bridge, the two-way path will also link to the contra-flow cycle path which extends around Customs House to Busáras.
The two-way path and the footpath extensions which will make the path accessible for the first time in decades require the removal of a smaller section of taxi rank and parking spaces and the removal of a traffic lane between City Quay and O’Connell Bridge.
A with-flow cycle track will also extend from the two-way path at Burgh Quay on the east side of the bridge to Aston Place part-way down Aston Quay before Ha’penny Bridge, where there will be a traffic light-controlled switchback to the building side.
The project is likely one of the last pieces of the jigsaw along the Liffey Cycle Route to be finished until the Draft City Centre Transport Plan is approved. That plan includes building a two-way cycle path on Bachlors Walk on the northwest corner of the bridge.
Access to the two-way cycle path at O’Connell Bridge seems to be only from O’Connell Bridge southbound, and there’s no clear way of joining the route from Westmorland Street without looping around the bridge.
The council said: “The Liffey Cycle Route interim scheme from George’s Quay to Aston Quay is anticipated to commence construction in Q1 2024. The contractor for the works will be Cairn Construction.”
Two disabled parking spaces will be relocated — one from Burgh Quay to Aston Quay and the other a short distance on Aston Quay. The new spaces will include drop-kerbs and hatched spaces at the rear of the parking spaces, both of which are lacking from the current design. See image two below.
Drawings
The drawings can be found in full on the Liffey Cycle Route project page, the following shows some key sections of the drawings:
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How is the end of the cycle lane on Aston Quay in any way safe?
It’s traffic light controled — note the line on the cycle lane and the other line across the genral traffic and bus lane.
Thanks. Hard to spot when there are no traffic lights shown on the diagrams.
Diffisult to see the exact measurements/widths of the cycle lane at various points, but it looks far too narrow.
There are a couple of 2-way cycle tracks dimensioned at a mere 2.7 m or 3.0 m.