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“IT SEEMED EVERY morning when you woke up and went online, there was a new pop-up cycle lane or footpath extension. It was like Christmas every day for people in Dublin but it was not the story for people in Galway.”
Martina Callanan from the Galway Cycling Campaign wishes she had a good story to tell about Covid mobility measures but “that’s not the story of Galway” she sighs.
“Over the course of the summer, no pop-up cycleways or extensions to current cycle tracks were built, no bollards to protect existing cycle tracks [were installed]. That was really disheartening.”
The disappointment in her voice is obvious as she speaks to Noteworthy about the progress in cycling infrastructure in the city since our major Bicycle Blackspots investigation which was published in April.
We analysed 12 years of cyclist collision data to reveal high risk areas where cyclists were killed or seriously injured around Ireland. You can read our full investigation which includes a list of blackspots as well as map of cyclist collisions here.
Today, we catch up with some of the people we spoke to during that investigation to find out if any improvements have been made to a number of key areas highlighted by our work.
One of these was the Headford Road in Galway. We found there were 16 cyclist collisions, including two serious injuries, along a 1km length of this route, from 2005 to 2016.
“The only change that’s happened on the Headford Road this year are preliminary works for the Kirwin Junction upgrade,” said Callanan, though she added that the Galway Cycling Campaign have “serious concerns” about the junction’s design.
We feel that the design as proposed does not protect non-motorised users of this busy junction.
A spokesperson for Galway City Council said that “this project is to make the Kirwan Roundabout safe for pedestrians and cyclists”.
“We have met with the Cycling Groups and have taken on a number of their suggestions. As far as Galway City Council is aware the cycling group are satisfied with the design, but some small number of individuals may still raise be raising concerns.”
Callanan describes her journey along this route in the video below where you can see the large roundabouts and junctions she navigates.
Callanan did welcome the resurfacing of a number of cycle tracks in the city as well as the city’s first school street, but said that there were other things the council could and should have done. “It should have been inspired by the four councils in Dublin as well as Cork and Limerick.”
A spokesperson from Galway City Council said that under Covid funding it constructed a new cycle route to “to assist public to park at Cappagh and cycle to Silver Strand” and “developed a design to provide cycling lanes along Salthill Promenade”. They added:
However, these were not implemented due to opposition from the public and elected members.
Over the summer, local cyclists hoped Salthill would be the next Coastal Mobility Route after Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (DLR) County Council built one between Blackrock and Sandycove in Dublin.
Local councillors voted against the proposal after it emerged that businesses in the area were not in favour of pop up cycle lanes, according to a Galway Advertiser report at the time.
“We could have had what Dún Laoghaire has now – a beautiful coastal mobility route – but we don’t,” said Callanan.
There still may be hope for the avid cyclist as Galway City Council told Noteworthy that “the proposal for Salthill is not axed but paused”.
The exemplar for Ireland
The Coastal Mobility Route has been the talk of the cycling community in Ireland since June.
Kieran Ryan of the Dublin Cycling Campaign said it has been a “rip-roaring success in terms of getting more people out on bikes” including children, women and people with disabilities – “the kind of demographics that we haven’t traditionally associated with cycling”.
The route removed one lane of vehicle traffic to create a two-way cycle route along the South Dublin coast. It went from design to completion over the course of around two months which “is lightning speed for Ireland”, explained Ryan.
DLR County Council has been “the exemplar for Ireland, probably up there on a European scale in terms of transformation”.
“There’s always been a concept of a cycling or mobility route that would stretch from Howth all the way to Sandycove or even into Wicklow, but we didn’t have any specific plans for the coast,” according to Robert Burns, director of infrastructure and climate change at DLR County Council.
The design was put together by their in-house engineers and planners rather than external consultants which meant it was done “very quickly”, said Burns, who added:
It was very unusual on any level for local authorities. We wouldn’t usually move that quickly. It was a public health measure. We didn’t go through all the normal processes in terms of consultation, detailed design, and all of the more protracted processes that would be involved in the project.
Before the cycleway was put in place there were around 4,000 people using the coastal route, according to Burns. Since the segregated infrastructure was built, this reached a peak of 20,000 per week and has become “an important transport corridor”.
In addition to the Coastal Mobility Route, DLR County Council also redesigned the main street through Blackrock Village by removing a lane of traffic, widening footpaths, building a contraflow cycle lane, taking out some car parking spaces and adding extra space for seating and businesses.
Burns said that “Blackrock is becoming more like a village now” where “it wasn’t really before”.
Consultation by trial
Dublin Cycling Campaign’s Ryan felt that one of the reasons the work in DLR has been a success is that “a great way to consult is to trial” as “people are actually experiencing and seeing it for themselves”.
If you produce a bunch of plans, and put them out for consultation, people don’t see the overall picture.
Burns had similar sentiments and said “it’s not fair when you’re trying to assess a project to look at what is there at the moment and then try to compare it to a drawing”. He added that “it’s not surprising that the status quo usually wins out”.
He has “seen a mood change” in recent months and an interest in “things moving ahead more quickly”. He gives the example of a recent public consultation on new cycle route projects which received 6,500 responses – about 3% of the DLR population – with around two-thirds of responses supportive.
However, he felt that people’s acceptance is different now to what it was in June.
It was a different atmosphere, a different set of circumstances. I don’t think we could do that project now in the same way. In June, people didn’t really see an end to Covid at this time. They can see an end now. We had a time window to do that in the same that we did it.
Slower progress in Dublin city
Unlike DLR, the proposed cycle route along the coast along the Strand Road at Sandymount in Dublin is not yet in place. “Dublin City Council have been dragged into a prolonged public consultation process,” according to Dublin Cycling Campaign’s Ryan.
This route is proposing to take a lane of car traffic away and replace it with a cycle route. “It’s very tough to get over that hurdle of taking space away from cars,” explained Ryan.
If you reduce the amount of space available to motor vehicles, it’s not necessarily going to result in more congestion and longer traffic jams. There is a phenomenon of traffic evaporation, where a lot of that traffic will simply disappear, as people will switch to different modes of transport and different routes.
This is not the only project currently undergoing consultation in Dublin City Council (DCC) with a number currently ongoing, including one on Griffith Avenue.
A spokesperson from Dublin City Council said that “consultation was deemed necessary for the Griffith Avenue and Strand Road projects as the scale and challenges of the projects are greater than other interventions in the Covid Mobility Programme and we are seeking feedback for all interested parties to inform the design and address any concerns”.
One DCC project that we covered in our Bicycle Blackspots investigation was the Clontarf to City cycle route. Our analysis found that this commuter route was the worst stretch in Ireland for cyclist collisions.
If you include the entire length of Fairview Park, starting at the Howth Road junction, to the IFSC, this 2.6km route had 80 collisions including two fatalities, seven serious and 71 minor injuries from 2005 to 2016.
A new cycleway has been planned for this area for many years with segregated cycle lanes to line the entire route and redesigned traffic layouts.
“By the time it’s implemented, it will be close to 13 years from when it was proposed,” said Ryan.
There was concern a few months ago that this project was not proceeding, but it is now back on track, with a different timeline.
A spokesperson for the council said that the tender was issued on 18 December to contractors that were previously shortlisted and “it is anticipated that a contractor will be appointed in May 2021″.
Construction is expected to start next July with the project to be completed 21 to 24 months after that.
In the video below, you can watch Alan Downey from the campaign group iBikeDublin travel along this route into town, with his sons Cian (6) and Darragh (4) out the front of his cargo bike. He also talks about some of the issues he encounters on a daily basis.
Cycling infrastructure has been built at a significantly faster rate in Dublin over the past few months compared to previous years, according to Dublin Cycling Campaign. If DCC keep building at the current rate, it will take 25 years to implement the Greater Dublin Area Cycling Network Plan, compared to the group’s estimated 250 years at the previous build rate.
A spokesperson for DCC said that “planning for an accelerated delivery of the cycle network expansion programme is underway, with the preparation of the cycle network map nearing completion”. They added:
“However, this plan cannot be finalised until the overall framework has been approved by both the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority (NTA).”
Temporary plans made permanent
Almost all Covid mobility measures are temporary and need to go through consultation or further approval to become permanent.
The DCC spokesperson said that the protected cycle lanes installed as part of these measures continue to be monitored and “a decision will be made on whether or not the measures should be made permanent will be taken once the pandemic is under control”.
In DLR, Burns is waiting for the results of an independent study by TU Dublin that they commissioned to find out how the Coastal Mobility Route and other measures they built are working. At that stage – around Spring of next year – they will have a public engagement process.
Then ultimately a decision will be made by the council whether to hold on to it or not. It’s still wide open as it is temporary.
In Galway, the City Council had positive news. There are 11 cycle routes currently under development and construction is to commence next year, according to the spokesperson.
Callanan is hopeful. “We’ve seen a real engagement with local media around safer walking and cycling facilities. We’ve seen a huge surge in our membership. Trying to buy a bike in Galway over the past couple of months has been near to impossible. This all points to a shift in people choosing to make shorter journeys on two wheels and that’s to be welcomed.”
STOLEN WHEELS Investigation
Following the publication of our Bicycle Blackspots investigation earlier this year, we were asked by a number of readers to examine the issue of bike thefts through the Noteworthy idea submission form.
Over 5,000 bikes are stolen each year, with many more unreported, so how can we stop rampant bike theft in this country? Through Noteworthy, we recently launched - for crowdfunding – a proposed investigation into this issue.
Here’s how to help support this project>
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Dublin City centre and quays have been totally messed up….and that’s with traffic greatly reduced….all to accommodate very small number of cyclists … Even less in the cold weather.
@Cosmos20202020: The county manager does not like any motorist be it car or trucks that keep the country going.
@Cosmos20202020: aww shucks – poor little you in your metal box – having a little bit of inconvenience which means a lot for safe for others who share road space with you and who
1. Choose to live a healthier lifestyle.
2. Are actually reducing the amount of traffic on the road
Get a life ffs!
@Dave Byrne: On yer bike !!
@Cosmos20202020:
Few people cycle in Dublin because the infrastructure is terrible, and too many drivers have selective blindness.
Better infrastructure -> more cycling -> fewer cars -> less traffic.
It’s really not rocket science lad, there just isn’t enough space on the road for everyone to drive a private car.
@Tommy Roche: Have a MTB Tommy and for years cycled across the city to work.
@David Bourke: that’s the point…they’ve put in the infrastructure and feck all are using it.
@Jazz Buckler: the few inconveniencing the many. They’ve spent millions and screwed up traffic flows (including buses) for no appreciable increase in cyclist numbers.
@Cosmos20202020:
If you took away the cycle lanes and the cyclists used their cars the traffic would be worse.
@David Bourke: Yes, but the better infrastructure needs to include public transport, which it currently does not. Still running a mon to fri system with little or no regard for the hundreds of thousands of shift workers. people will still use their cars if public transport can only get them to work on certain days only. And yes, I loved to cycle to work, for the 4 years out of the last 35 that was close enough.
@Cosmos20202020: Sssssshh! It’s great at the moment! For those of us who are using the bike lanes, they’re great! But as more people start cycling, they will become very congested and not as much fun to use!
@Cosmos20202020: Sssssshh! It’s great at the moment! For those of us who are using the bike lanes, they’re great! But as more people start cycling, they will become very congested and not as much fun to use!
@Cosmos20202020: Sssssshh! It’s great at the moment! For those of us who are using the bike lanes, they’re great! But as more people start cycling, they will become very congested and not as much fun to use!
@Jazz Buckler: and this is why people don’t like cyclists. Try step down off your high horse there, if it weren’t for metal boxes your lycra would still be on the docks in another metal box.
@Jazz Buckler: Some people need a metal box to travel in for various reasone, does riding a bike give you more rights than them?
@ChronicAnxiety: BS
@Jazz Buckler: did you cycle in the ice this morning
@Gerard Heery: you are projecting there.
I cycle in all sorts of weather yes FYI and don’t deliberately cycle on ice (why would I ?) I avoid it.
@Gary Kearney: more rights ?! Huh? Wha?
Get real Gary, check yo’self
@David Daly: I am a “motorist” too btw as are 80-90% of “cyclists” – who are also “people” btw
I choose to cycle into to the city because driving my car anywhere in Dublin City is a royal pain the arse!
Why not give out about taxi lanes / bus lanes?
Should they be surrendered to cars too?
All the above are road users have a right to share the road infrastructure in a safe structured fashion
There is no high-horsery going on here.
We haven’t had a cyclist v motorists royal rumble on the Journal in ages thanks to Covid! This might get it going again maybe….I’ll start it off….cyclists weaving between cars, running red lights….motorists driving in cycle lanes and turning left without checking wing mirrors etc.
@Joe Kennedy: may as well add cyclists don’t pay “road tax”, insurance and contribute nothing…..motorists pay for everything, sure we’ll ignore uninsured drivers, unaccompanied learners, numbers caught drink and/or drug driving…..the list goes on and on and on and on.
@Joe Kennedy: can we join together and aim our hate at those Lidl electric scooters?
@Michael Carolan: or the fact that most cyclists own cars as well.
@ChronicAnxiety: forgot to mention the estimated 80% that do
@Crocodylus Pontifex: Donors.
@Michael Carolan: Pedestrians, stop forgetting that just because cars are stopped doesn’t mean they are not about to move, check the bloody lights before you walk onto the road. Motorists, stop forgetting that the roads are not all empty atm and stop running the red light 5 seconds after they have changed, even if the councils still have them set to stupidly short timing. Cyclists, don’t forget that there are more cars back on the roads and they have forgotten how to drive properly after so many months due to lack of practice, you don’t have airbags or steel crumple zones. Cats, stop running out in front of my car,
@Joe Kennedy: I only just got the microwave popcorn out, what did I miss?
@Trevor Donoghue: Cyclist , the Rules of the Road apply to you too. Having a bike does not mean you have the right to cycle where you want when you want and if somebody refuses to get out of you way, abusing them is wrong too.
Footpaths and pedestrians areas are for people not for vehicles.
Bikes are vehicles
@Gary Kearney: I see far more cars parked on footpaths each day than I see cyclists.
More traffic = more pollution
More cycle lanes = narrower roads
Narrower roads = more traffic
Possibly the most un-green decision the councils could have done!
Besudes Not all road users have the option to cycle or use public transport…- the parent taxis / delivery vehicles/ service providers & trades people are just some of the daily road users whose daily hours are screwed up beyond comprehension!
Alsi Not all folk who work in the city or even suburbs have viable alternatives to private car use neither.
@Barry Ringwood:
More cycle lanes = more cyclists
If you’re driving, you’re not “stuck in traffic”, you *are* traffic. Anything that takes cars off the road is ironically, also better for people who have to drive. You’d need to be soft in the head to not see how cycle infrastructure benefits everyone.
@Barry Ringwood:
“Not all road users have the option to cycle or use public transport”
Not all people can drive either ya’know. Motorists are the biggest bunch of crying snowflakes. “Wah wah, cyclists want a fraction of the space we get to ourselves, this is fascism”
Get over it, nobody’s taking your car away.
@David Bourke: And by far, far the best thing to do is to have a public transport system that people can actually use to get to work, Not just to work on certain days or hours. People have been working shift hours for many decades. In over 35 years of working, still never, ever had a job that public transport was available for yet. and don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
@David Bourke: So calling somebody soft in the head is supposed to win you the discussion.
Not everyone can cycle was the point being made and you insulted the poster.
Typical
@David Bourke: Actually, they are. part of the bus connects plan includes compulsory purchase orders for people’s driveways and no on street parking.
I’d pay a bicycle lane tax if it funded a proper fit for purpose network of safe routes. I wouldn’t be overly happy about more tax but we need a proper network asap…
@Peter B: First cyclist I have ever heard say that.
@Gary Kearney: how do you know he’s a cyclist? The car wheel on the profile pic could be a clue.
As an avid cyclist one would think she would promote wearing a helmet.
Enough room on the roads for everyone. Sometimes we just need to take a breath.
Be safe out there everyone!
@Phil Byrne: I really would like to believe there is enough room on the road for every one, byt for the moment I can’t. I only live a few miles from work but still take the car as there is not a hope in hell I would be safe trying to get around some of the roads around here on the way to and from work on a bike with the behaviour of some motorists on the road in the mornings and evenings.
Im a cyclist and a motorist and have seen crazy behaviour from both. That said, not much point in having cycle lanes when some delivery drivers insist on using them as parking forcing the cyclists out onto the road they’ve been asked not use. Had an accident recently as a result of this behaviour and as a consequence will never again use a cycle lane – safer on the road.
Cars need to treated as 2nd class from now on and taxed in line with peoples income. Electric Cargo bikes should be considered as an alternative to cars in the cities.
@Clurichaun: what a load of poop car drivers road tax is what is paying for these new cycle lanes.
I just narrowly avoided being knocked down by a teenage scrote, cycling up behind me on the footpath this afternoon. When I called him out on his behaviour, he and his equally feral mates just laughed at me. Not much of a surprise though, when I think of the amount of times that I’ve witnessed adults doing the same thing. Monkey See, Monkey do.
@Sean May: Wow . You have it bad. Scrotes. Footpath. Feral. Monkeys. You really like airing your prejudices
@Mick Andrews: Nothing to do with airing “prejudices. I just detest rotten manners in those that do not give a damn about other people. Imagine it was some unfortunate pensioner who was knocked down and badly injured by one of these youngsters. So save your Virtue Signalling for someone who actually cares. PS: The clue is in the word “Foot”path.
@Mick Andrews: It’s called reality, not prejudices.
I’m a big cyclist – on my bike most days. Have seen terrible driving and felt in danger when cycling – have also seen terrible cyclist behaviour and read the riot act to a few for cycling in the dark without lights or high-viz.
However, the only accident that I ever had whilst cycling was when a fellow cyclist broke red light and cycled right into me and knocked me off mine on a busy road. I was so feckin’ incensed that a fellow cyclist was so selfish and unobservant. And put us both in danger.
These cycle lanes will make cycling safer. That’s the most we can hope for.
Will take someone getting mowed down by one of those unregulated electrics scooters before the bike versus car road use questions will come to a head
The early covid footpath extensions were quickly converted in cycling lanes, the pedestrians cross have been removed and reduced because of the new cycling tracks. I am tired of all this propaganda that seems in pure indoctrination.
The black.spots in my neighborhood are changes to the original design to please the cyclists. One in concrete is because the cyclists refuse to use the cycling tracks as per plan and design, they want to share the road with the traffic towards the two largest parking buildings in the area. And then comes the behaviour of the own cyclists, where I live, families are back to the footpath, much safer for the children.
And then comes the factor of covid spread, people are misusing the cycling lanes to flout the road controls and go beyond the 5km. So people finish with their neighbourhood outdoors facilities barrier up because of the cycling tracks.
For me, if something needs to be barriered up in this new full lockdown is the cycling tracks rather than the limited outdoors facilities in areas where half of the 5km is the sea.
The cycling tracks seem to have been unsuccessful to reduce the spreading of covid and reduce the road accidents because the cause is the behaviour of those cycling
Surely someone fronting a Cycling campaign, should have the cop on to be wearing a helmet. Imo it should be mandatory along with wearing a hi-viz, be great if having lights was enforced also…..
Amazing how the Dublin Cycling Campaign do not like Public Consultation. Where people other that cyclists and their lobbyists can be heard.
For all the bike lanes in Dublin City the cycling numbers which were supposed to increase according to the Dublin City Council by 300% then 200% have decreased.
DLR have been the worst for putting in vulnerable pedestrian designed cycle lanes.
Blackrock Village was supposed to be abput social distancing and yet there is none.
It is called Tactical Urbanism and its when cyclist push their way on people when there is no chance to stop them. Like now.
Quite a lengthy article, I’ll pass
Petrol scooters should be banned, and replaced with electric ones. Hate a loud scooter at 4 in the morning.
@Clurichaun: All powered scooters are already banned, The guards just arn’t bothering to enforce it.
Kildare County Council did sweet f all. Other councils took the bull by the horn and did something but Kildare County Council sat on their hands.
Cannot happen fast enough. Faster and cleaner for all.
That’s not merrion street, it’s Fitzwilliam street.
Cyclists & pedestrians are commuters due equal rights to motorists in every urban environment, & more so on road safety considerations. They are the majority commuters as well. Even motorists default to pedestrians or cyclists when not using the vehicle.
So logically, motorists have to comply with essential protections, both for general environmental & physical safety, for that majority.
The local authorities do not need vast millions to acheive that goal, what they need is legislative powers & policies to ensure that road space is restored for all commuter traffic.
In most situations, that merely requires that motorists be required to store their property off street, just as per the Mount St. Picture.
Who gives a ahite, covid more important
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