Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has rejected a request from a councillor to remove bollards protecting a cycle lane on Avondale Road in Co Dublin, outlining that improving safety for people cycling is part of its Road Safety Plan.
The motion put down by Cllr Frank McNamara (FG) said: “That the Council remove all plastic bollards along the cycle lanes on Avondale Road.”
DLR Cycling, a branch of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, criticised the councillor’s motion for cycle lane bollards to be removed and noted that a death occurred at a location in the same council area where bollards were removed.
The group said: “Hard to believe a councillor putting down a motion to remove bollards not long after someone lost their life when bollards were removed.”
The reference to a fatal collision relates to the death of Price-Martin, who died at the junction of Upper Glenageary Road, Oliver Plunkett Road, Kill Ave, and Highthorn Park.
DLR Cycling added: “These bollards are necessary until a permanent scheme is done.”
According to records released under FOI to this website, the bollards were removed from the junction by persons unknown and dumped in a garden sometime before her death. The collision involved a truck driver who had entered the junction from the same direction.
The junction is around 2km from Avondale Road.
In its written response to Cllr McNamara’s motion, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said it has no plan to remove the Avondale Road cycle protection scheme, which was implemented for road safety reasons.
James Byrne, a senior executive engineer in the traffic and road safety section of the council, said: “The Introduction of safe segregated cycle lanes forms part of local and national transportation and climate action plan policy. Improving facilities for cyclists also forms part of the Council Road Safety Plan 2022-2030.”
“Following a presentation to the Area Committee and a leaflet drop to residents, the Avondale Road cycle protection scheme was introduced in 2022. The bollards served to increase the safety for cyclists utilising the cycle lanes and there is no plan to remove the cycle protection scheme,” Byrne said.
He also confirmed that a number of bollards on the road were removed or altered in recent years following requests from residents.
Cllr McNamara has been contacted for comment.
IMAGE: DLR Cycling,.
Personally i would love to see the poles removed and replaced by either long planters or high steps as the plastic looks cheap tacky and does nothing to actually protect cyclists from vehicles
Have used cycle lane along Griffith avenue, it’s not too bad looking imo, just like road markings really. Your idea of a protective kerb is really good as the potential of damage to personal property makes everyone take better care of their things doesn’t it?!!
@martin, how can you say that the bollards do nothing when it is widely accepted that a life was lost as a direct result of the illegal removal of bollards? If the option is bollards or nothing, the bollards must stay. People’s sensitivity to their looks is trivial in this context.
What’s he reason? Did he state one in the proposal? Is it just aesthetic?
Id say that some of the residents don’t like them, and so some curtain-twitchers got on to their local counselor to ‘do something about it’, hence his opposition.
Parish pump at its finest.
Probably the same type of people that would have cones out to reserve “their” space if there was parking instead of a cycle lane