Fingal County Council has said that the cycle lane with bollards will be restored as soon as possible after resurfacing works on the Howth Road.
An IrishCycle.com reader said yesterday that the cycle lane had not been replaced after the resurfacing works and questioned what was happening. It turns out that a local councillor had already asked about the status of the cycle lane between Howth to Sutton Cross, and council officials responded that it would be replaced.
Cllr David Healy (Green Party) tabled a motion which said: “That this Area Committee recommends that the protected cycle lane from Howth to Sutton Cross is restored as soon as possible and that future replacement or improvement of active travel facilities is made an integral part of any road maintenance work contract or work by statutory contractors.”
The report reply from council officials said: “The Howth Road surface was reinstated and resurfaced due to utility works. The cycle lane line markings and bollard positions will be set out in the coming weeks. Once that process is completed then the line marking aspect of the cycle lanes will be reinstalled.”
“The next step after that is to install the buff anti-skid epoxy resin. This can be installed only when the wearing course has worn sufficiently to allow the resin bond with the new wearing course surface of the road. Once that stage is completed then the bollards can be reinstated,” the response said.
Why couldn’t they install a cycle track as part of that utility works – to move the drainage out and put a proper segregated bike lane? Bollards are so ugly and should be a temporary solution, not an abiding one.
Not to be smart, but utility companies do not provide cycle tracks and installed usable cycle tracks with a kerb here would require major reworking of the road.
I am surprised by your answer. Clearly I would not expect e.g. Irish Water to do a cycle track.
When Clontarf Rd had 10s of €€€ millions spent on utility works that were badly needed, the bike tracks and other works went with them. No one said Irish Water had to do the bike tracks.
In reinstating rubbish infra on the Howth Rd, it is a missed opportunity.
Hi Marks, that’s why I added “I’m not being smart” but, I am sorry, I was in a hurry eailier and should have waited until I had more time before replying.
I can agree that reinstating the same infra on the Howth Rd is a missed opportunity but the resources and capacity constraints mean that not everything can be done at once. Councils are at capacity, and national funding for cycling is also maxed out: There isn’t the resources to do a full redesign every time in all of the places Irish Water or others are replacing utilities.
And the Clontarf Route was not a utilities-led project.
The Clontarf Route project is a Dublin City Council project that started as a cycle route project and morphed into a bus and cycling project and then into a full street redesign.
The Irish Water element was added on. For a while before construction started, there was a large question of if Irish Water would even join in. It at least somewhat delayed the project.
The council started looking at the Clontarf route at least 11-12 years ago, and it was approved in 2017 and is only nearly finished now. Things shouldn’t take this long, but my point is that the Clontarf route may not be the best example for the point you’re trying to make.
Sorry again for my previous comment which was written in haste.