The Royal Canal Greenway between Glasnevin/Phibsborough to Drumcondra/Dorset Street is now fully opened, and shared toucan crossings are now operational at both ends.
IrishCycle.com previously reported that the path on the now opened section was to be split between walking (1.5 metre wide) and cycling (2.5 metre wide, two-way), with a kerb down the middle. This website covered how the width of both paths would be substandard for the location and likely use.
To much confusion, what was to be a cycle path actually opened with shared path signs. Surface markings have been painted to highlight the shared nature of a path, which would be substandard in width even with just bicycles on it:
The new access points uses well-spaced bollards, which is a large improvement over the kissing gates which were in place:
When IrishCycle.com visited the new crossing at the start of Dorset Street yesterday, motorists were still ‘adjusting’ to the new set of traffic lights:
The new crossing provides a direct link for people walking and cycling along the canal and
It replaces quite convoluted previous routes around the nearby junctions:
The main construction work on this section is making the steep ramps from canal bank level to street level more accessible for a range of users:
Looking towards Croke Park at Jones’ Road / Russell Street, this section will include a new dock:
This is the new layout and crossing on Jones’ Road / Russell Street:
This photo is taken from Jones’ Road / Russell Street looking back towards Dorset Street / Drumcondra Road:
While the main structures of the ramps are in place, there’s still some heavy work between the two bridges:
This is a bit of a closer look at the stonework on the side of one of the ramps:
There’s a longer ramp at the Croke Park side:
At Summerhill Parade / Ballybough Rd, the existing crossing has been moved closer to the greenway path desire line:
Some have expressed disappointment in the underpasses being closed, but that space was required to improve the accessibility and maintain the useable width of the ramps without eating into the canal space:
Access points for cycling differ on the different roads:
This is looking towards Charleville Mall and North Strand Road:
A close-up of the same:
On Charleville Mall, the cycle route joins the carriageway:
Then, there is a short cycle path before merging to a shared path again, where people can join the Clontarf to City Centre route or continue along the canal to the Docklands and beyond:
I think this is worse for cyclists. I used to be able to go from Whitworth Road to Spencer dock without having to deal with any road.
Now from what I can see, I’ll have to deal with 3-4 sets of traffic lights? How is this better, and better for who?
Hi John
How did you manage to avoid Dorset St and the North Strand ?
I used to cycle this route and was very annoyed they closed this off for so long. Very cheeky by the council to do all this subterranean infrastructure work under the guise of a Greenway. It’s annoying in terms of the cost as a taxpayer, and the disruption to cyclists.
They should have had contraflow under all the bridges, I presumed this is what they were doing in the first place.
Also the whole solution looks overly on paper, but in reality it’s pretty shitty. I cycled it a few times recently and pedestrian/cyclist separation is not sufficient for commuting speed cycling. One was a very old person pushing their trolley along the cycle route (lovely to see but the design is flawed). I prefer cycling on the whitworth road alternative.
The only good point is that it dramatically improves the local area (visually appeasing), and will attract more pedestrians.
End rant lol
How on earth are there already cars parked on it?