Cian Ginty 
A high quality cycle route on the quays is “something we have to do” a senior engineer with Dublin City Council has said.
Under the title “Liffey Cycle Route” council has allocated €150,000 for “design and commencement of construction of a high quality East-West city centre cycle route linking the IFSC in the east with Heuston Station and the Phoenix Park in the west.”
Design guidelines costing nearly €250,000 and aimed at making roads safer for cyclists were set aside on a technicality for resurfacing works to 24km of roads in Dublin.
Officials from the National Transport Authority (NTA) defended the disregarding of their own guidelines, the National Cycle Manual, while cycling campaigners called it “an appalling sign for the future.”
The manual was published at cyclemanual.ie early last year and was available to road authorities before this, but the NTA said the resurfacing — which cost €22 million — did not have to follow the manual because the “work predated the formal adoption” of the manual.
As the numbers of cyclists has increased in the Dublin City area — including many inexperienced cyclists, and, reportedly, many apparent reckless ones — the death and injury rates have declined:
After we reported a 26% increase in cyclists in Dublin, Jim posted this comment: “You can see a map showing, among other Census stuff, the cycling rate in different parts of the country here. … Read more
Over 39,000 commuters in Dublin count themselves mainly as cyclists, up by 26% since 2006, according the 2011 Census.
In all of Co Dublin, which includes the four council areas combined, the modal share is at 5%, up from 3.95% in 2006. It accounts for an actual increase of over 8,000 people.
However, people who cycle less regularly and those who use a bike for a small part of a longer commute — such as many Dublin Bike users — are not counted by the Census as cyclists, so the total number of cyclists is likely to be even higher. Dublin Bikes now has around 46,000 long-term subscribers who have clocked up over 3.5 million trips since September 2009.
The Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown council areas account for over three quarters of the 39,044 people who are mainly cyclists, with 23,265 and 6,869 cyclists respectively. The strongest growth in cycling is also in these areas. Those who say they ‘usually’ use a bicycle to get to school, work or college has increased by 29% and 37.5% respectively.
Luas Broombridge’s approval by the planning body, An Bord Plenala, last week means that railway tracks are coming to many of the main streets in Dublin City Centre — including O’Connell Street, Parnell Street, and College Green.
According to the 2011 census, among commuters from the Dublin City Council area, cycling is growing in popularity and is now the primary mode for 7.5% of commuters, up from 5.6% in 2006. Morning rush hour traffic counts also show a 45% increase in the amount of cyclists entering the city centre in the last five years.
Ben Goldacre (@bengoldacre) of Bad Science fame tweeting today on why mandatory helmets are a bad idea: right, i’m too busy for a good job: do you want some vaguely remembered facts … Read more
Comment & Analysis: Interesting cycling nugget from the findings of the public inquiry for the Docklands Luas (extension C1) conducted for the Department of Transport:
“The project will involve the construction of a bridge linking Mayor Street Upper with Mayor Street Lower (Mayor Street Bridge) across Spencer Dock; this will provide a route for pedestrians and cyclists as well as LUAS vehicles; and it will also provide vehicle access to the National Conference Centre from Guild Street.
The bridge across Spencer Dock was not made cycling friendly and heading eastbound, once across the bridge there’s no legal way to proceed, no route. The road is blocked as shown in this image and this artificial blocking in one direction (there’s loads of space!) is followed by no route past the Luas stop in both directions (in the far background, along the tracks):