— There will be turning lanes at the junction when it is finished in just over two months from now.
— Council and contractor will look to address issues around traffic safety and communications.
Emotions were running high at a public meeting on Thursday night about the road works at Baker’s Corner, which are part of the Dún Laoghaire Central Active Travel project.
The project includes improved safety for people walking and cycling, as well as more greenery.
DLR Central also connects to a large number of existing and planned cycle routes and active travel projects, including the recently finished two-way cycle path on the Deansgrange Road and Glenageary Road, older cycle paths on Glenageary Ave, and the approved Rochestown Avenue and Dún Laoghaire Living Street projects, and the planned DLR Connector project. It also connects to a local urban greenway and low-traffi route.
The meeting on Thursday, which around 100 people attended, included people with a mix of views from people who don’t want any money to be spent on cycle paths to those who see the benefit of the project but think that more needs to be done to resolve the construction-related traffic congestion and other issues.
Although some at the meeting used the level of annoyance to claim that people did not want the project, this prompted a number of others to speak up and say that they had issues with the construction but could see that the project would benefit them or their children.
Some in attendance dismissed the safety benefit and the general benefit of cycle paths. In response, others spoke of clear safety issues with the design before construction started, and one resident highlighted the death of Greta Price-Martin, a student who was cycling to work when she was killed at one of the junctions which is to be revamped as part of the project.
There was a broad consensus from those who spoke that adjustments needed to be made, such as to traffic lights, while the work was ongoing because only three cars were getting through. Others made suggestions such as turning off the traffic lights and using a stop-and-go system.
A number of people complained about issues with being able to exit estates and driveways. Councillors said that they would push for yellow boxes to be installed at estate entrances.
Some residents said that they wanted improvements for pedestrians around the building works and clearer signage for all road users. Others complained of increased rat running in estates around the junction, often at speed.
There were also a number of contradictory views expressed; for example, some people took grave issue with a few existing trees being cut down, while others claimed nobody wanted the far larger number of new trees planned along the route despite others having spoken in favor of the planned extra greenery. One resident said they wanted more of a village feeling, while others said “nobody asked for” the benches.
To audible shock from some and support from others, one resident said that while some people will need to drive, it is not possible for the same number of people to drive as often as the population of the area continues to increase.
William Winters, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council’s senior resident engineer on the project, had to reason with people to allow him to start the meeting.
“A refocus”
He said there would be a “refocus” on trying to fix the issues which were raised by residents at the meeting, of the type which one resident described as “within the council’s gift”, including better signage.
Much to the dismay of some in the room who were looking to question the validity of the project, he explained that the meeting was about the construction works and that the project had been consulted on and voted for by councillors in 2022.
Winters said that the area has a great community and the council is not there to cause havoc. This prompted laughing and heckling before he asked to be allowed to speak again.
“We will do our best to minimise disruption, but zero disruption is not an option because it’s major civil engineering works. Just beneath your footpaths and roads are your water, gas, and ESB [cables and pipes]. When we break the curb, we have to put in new gulleys, which requires excavation,” he said.
One man interjected and wanted to discuss the plans that had already been agreed. Another who hinted at conspiracy theories during the meeting said that public consultation was a “scam” because people don’t engage in the process.
A third man asked where the council’s CEO was and where the councillors. Despite around 15 councillors being at the meeting, he said, “they are all hiding”.
Timeline and phasing of works
The project is due to take around two years to finish, and different sections will be finished in stages.
Niall McElwaine, a contracts director at Clonmel Enterprises, the contractor for the project, said that he would talk about the works programme and that any issues related to the design are a matter for the council.
He said that they will be working around Baker’s Corner roughly to around the end of April, with resurfacing planned for the first weeks of May. The junction will be opened then as the construction team moves up Kill Avenue around Rose Park.
Between there and the Highthorn Park Junction, works are planned from mid-May to mid-June. “By the middle of the summer, we should be up to Honeypark on, up close to Highthorn junction on the northern side,” he said. “As we go up the northern side, we then fall back on the southern side, starting at the junction again, up as far as Rose Park, from May to mid-July.”
He said: “From the top end of Rose Park back up to Honeypark to Highthorn junction will go on from July to the middle of September. The works at Highthorn junction will start, hopefully, in the middle of September, and we’ll hopefully be finished before Christmas.”
“We’ll also be starting on Glenageary Road Upper, from the middle of October, towards the Glenageary roundabout,” he said. This section will take around 6 months.
“We’ll also start from Mounttown Road Upper, that’ll start after Christmas and head back towards Mounttown Road Lower back towards Highthorn junction again,” he said.
Working mainly at day
McElwaine said that they were planning to mainly work during the day — this is a restriction put on the project by the council because the areas are mainly residential.
He said the project needed to be done in a phased way to keep traffic lanes open.
One of the strongest reactions from a majority of people in the room at the meeting was the contention from McElwaine that letter drops giving information have been done locally. He said that if people did not get them, they would provide them and would be happy to deal with any other issues too.
When asked, McElwaine said their part of the contract was roughly worth €12.5 million. Other parts of the project include planning and drafting designs, which are not part of this cost.
Cllr Michael Clark (Fianna Fáil) said he was one of the two councillors who voted against the scheme but did not see any way of stopping it at this stage. But he pleaded with the contractor to work at night.
It was said that a condition put on the contractor by the council was that there be minimum nighttime work because it is a residential area and because concrete plants generally do not open at night.
Cllr Justin Moylan (Fianna Fáil) said that residents would put up with the noise at night for the works to be finished more quickly and implored the contractor to improve communications.
Turning lanes will be restored at juncton
Winters said that turning will be returned to Baker’s Corner junction when those works are finished towards the end of April. He said extra space, beyond what is needed for cycle paths, is needed to allow for construction works to place and to keep workers safe.
But the slip lane at the southwest corner of the junction will not be returning — slip turns are against design guidance because of an increased risk to people walking and cycling.
Asked what could people expect after the works and Winters said that the junction would be a “much safer juncton” but when pushed he said he could not guarantee that traffic would flow better than before the construction started because traffic congestion is increasing generally and junctions across the county are at capacity.
“You don’t represent 5,000 people”
Marc Coleman, a former Irish Times economics editor and the chair of Monkstown Abbey Road Residents’ Association, claimed to “represent 5,000 people”, to which Cllr Tom Kivlehan (Green Party) said: “Marc, you don’t represent 5,000 people.”
He claimed the online consultations were “biased and discriminatory” against elderly residents, but the consultation was not online-only — it included the documents being made available at both County Hall and Deansgrange Library and postal submissions were accepted.
Coleman said he was going to hold his own vote on the project, with residents being able to vote for or against the project, which is already a month into construction.
When Coleman interjected at a different stage, a man in the crowd with many people eager to talk, said, “why is this man speaking again”.
These meetings must be challenging and frustrating for engineers/councillors.
Active travel projects in the long term create cultural behavioural shifts from people using a car to walking/cycling.
The interest of the wider public and future generations must come be the priority over individual self interest.
Without good reliable public teansport which gives peaple a real option, then all of this active travel plan is a complete waste. Already a proper Metro is 2 generations late compared to all other major European cities. Best to stop all this wasteful active travel programme b & revisit after Metro is up and running.
Hi John, MetroLink is another 10 years away from opening if we’re luckly and it will not directly serve this area… but even if it did, how do you think people are to travel in a growing city between now and then?
John that is an absolute red herring. Safe crossings and other facilities are needed NOW. Given how long the “proper Metro” has been delayed, it makes absolutely zero sense to postpone cheap and effective measures that can make walking and cycling safer now.
In 2023 28% of Dutch people cycled to/from there commute and yes it also rains alot in the Netherlands. They bike alot because they have protected cycle lanes in a continuous network. Active travel infrastructure is a key element in improving traffic congestion. Active travel when done right is a very real option and a viable alternative to driving cars and the traffic congestion they bring.
Ridiculous, if you have relatives with walking difficulties – be they young or old, how do you get them on bikes !!!!!
Cars are very much needed.
Hi Lorraine, I’m not sure what you are saying is — nobody has said anything about everyone cycling, in fact the article above includes a resident saying some people need cars.
Needing to transport relatives who cannot walk or cannot walk far is an example of that.
Nobody is questioning people with disabilities’ need to use a car, such people often have a hard enough life without being told how to travel.
But besides from their needs, there are many people with disabilities with different needs, requirements and desires. It’s the main thing I’ve learnt over the years about disabilities — people are different and there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. So when disabilities is mentioned we should look at the issue in the round.
This includes people who (1) do not have access to cars or (2) have access to a car but choose not to/always use one, and the project will make the roads safer for people.
Even just for people with disabilities who have to cross a road from a car park or bus stop to say shops, the project will also make things safer for them.
And people with disabilities who use cycle lanes be it on a normal bike or an adapted bike, the project will make it safer for them too.
And then there’s people who are aging and the best way to avoid an age-related mobility disability is to stay active as much as possible and the project makes staying active for daily activity more attractive and safer while still allowing people to also drive.
Cian Ginty. As a Deansgrange resident f 40 years I’m sorry, but I do not believe this project will contribute in any meaningful way to the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. Despite millions of euro being spent on infrastructure for the Safe To School system; eg the new bike/pedestrian lights at the entrance to Clonkeen Park, since completed 7 months ago, I have not seen a single cyclist use the lights to cross Kill Lane. Rather they are dodging in between cars stuck in traffic, ignoring the pedestrian lights at Deansgrange Crossroads and riding up the new bike lane (Kill Lane) on the wrong side of the road in the opposite direction as indicated. I’d like to point out that I fully support bike lanes for schoolchildren. Irish people flout road regulations rules with pride.
Hi Ray, With respect, you not seeing something and something not happening are two different things. I’ve heard enough fairtails from others in the last few years of “nobody” is using X, Y or Z cycle paths when both my own eyes on site visits and traffic counters show that such cycle paths are being used. So, please exclude me if I also don’t believe you.
But even if there was not a single cyclist using the crossing into the park, the crossing is worth it for pedestrians.
And there were not millions spent on the crossing, and the rest of the project is being well used.
Also saying you “fully support bike lanes for schoolchildren” and also saying that you “do not believe this project will contribute in any meaningful way to the safety of cyclists and pedestrians”, to me, don’t seem to be compatible statements.
What about the rat race this is causing through residential areas like Roary o Connor park and Sallynoggin with everyone trying to bet the traffic off the main routes it’s possibly made residential areas more dangerous
Just want to leave a comment to say I’m in full support of this project as often people only comment when there is something negative to say. I believe this area needs less cars and more bikes for those who can do so. Active travel is good for your health, your wallet and the most importantly the environment.
I wasn’t at the meeting so perhaps these points were covered. I see the merit of the project but question how it could take 2 years to complete. I understand it needs to be phased for traffic management reason, but surely a project causing so much disruption should be more intensively resourced. I can only speak for what I witnessed, but during the Deansgrange road phase there seemed to be very few people or equipment working on it at any given time. My second point regards the scheduling of the works. Surely one of the busiest junctions in the area could have been scheduled during the school summer holidays.