Meanwhile In Kilmainham

at

IMG_8191

Inchicore Road, Dublin 8 yesterday

New look cycle friendly Dublin?

Not so fast.

Via Cian Ginty at IrishCycling.com:

The Kilmainham Civic Space project, led by [Dublin City Council] City Architects Division, redesigned the street space in front of Kilmainham Gaol and the offices, cafe, homes and hotel across from it…

…The project team ignored feedback requesting dedicated space for cycling in the project and ignored years of complaints to the council from people using the cycle route that taxis waiting and vans loading was common place on the previous two-way cycle lane outside the hotel and offices.

The new design includes mixing walking and cycling on footpaths and crossings; an unprotected contra-flow cycle lane already prone to parking and loading on it; car parking spaces inside the contra-flow cycle lane which motorists must cross to use the spaces; and mixing bicycles with tourist buses in a shared traffic lane.

A call from the NCBI, the national sight loss charity, not to mix walking and cycling on a section of the project were also ignored.

Cycle Lanes Concerns Ignored By Dublin City Council Leads To Predictable Results (IrishCycle.com)

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56 thoughts on “Meanwhile In Kilmainham

  1. Nessy

    Not surprised at all. Cycle tracks/lanes in this country and particularly in Dublin are a shambles.
    They’re ignored by motorists when on the road, pedestrians and joggers use them when they’re off road and the majority of pedestrian/cycle path ones are so useless and lead to nowhere that it’s actually safer to cycle on the roads with ten ton trucks and buses etc etc

    Ireland has such a long way to go in terms of cycle safety and infrastructure

    1. Yea, Ok

      This is exactly the problem; by the time all the lobbyists stick their oars in you might as well not have bothered. And no matter how well planned and fit for purpose a cycle lane is, taxis and vans will still park there simply because it’s a piece of available tarmac. Until there’s a harsh clampdown on that it’ll never stop.

      1. Custo

        There was plenty of space (at least ten yards from office block to kerb) to move the contraflow cycle Lane onto the new paved area so that cars wouldn’t be able to park across it, and then reconnect it to the road at the junction.

      2. Nessy

        + current figure for on the spot cycling fines

        Agree fully Yea, Ok. The attitude towards cyclists, existing infrastructure and planning needs to change drastically if anything positive is to be done for cyclists. However when you have the director of consumer affairs for the AA, claiming a bicycle hangers is “an excuse to sabotage car use,” you have to wonder if it’s worth fighting a seemingly losing battle

        (http://irishcycle.com/2015/02/02/irish-motoring-spokesman-questions-if-bike-hangers-are-an-excuse-to-sabotage-car-use/)

          1. Poisson IV's Mammy

            Now Poisson IV what did I tell you about having manners. Have you forgotten what Dora thought you last week about having empathy for others. There’s a good child. Come over here and Mammy will make it all better. I have some warm milk and your blankey.

          2. bertie blenkinsop

            I thought that I was original in thinking that you’re a bit of a sap but it transpires there’s loads of us that think the same way.

  2. Custo

    I walk by there twice a day for last 5 years. Taxis just pull up any where to pick up / drop off – path, road, traffic lights, cycle lanes etc. It’s obviously a massive tourist destination with the Hilton, Royal Hospital & Jail. There should have been a designated taxi lay-bye factored into the plans. But that would be daft.

    Also, I can see the paving slabs come loose pretty soon as the day they were laid, there were cars/trucks driving all over them and parked up for hours while the rest of the work was finished.

    The benches are rubbish too. Fair enough they’re under the trees, but for 6 months of the year there’ll be no rain cover and the rest of the year they’ll be covered in bird shit.

    Still, it’ll be nice and shiny for Enda’s visit in Easter. And it’s better than it was. At least the road markings are a help to pedestrians crossing @ the Royal hospital, which was lethal most days.

    So now.

      1. Poisson IV

        There are children going hungry tonight you unfeeling stone hearted wretch
        And all you think about is an inch of concrete

        1. scottser

          would they now, be the children of say, the clery’s workers who you deemed not fit to get a decent redundancy package?

    1. Fergus the magic postman

      As long as there’s plenty more like you, nothing needs to be done properly ever again.

      1. Poisson IV

        Here’s another soi-disant all knowing “commenter”
        Maybe in a parallel universe somehow someone gives a flying fupp , you dig Puffman?

        1. Fergus the magic postman

          No point in anybody giving a flying fupp about anything in your little world is there?

          1. Poisson IV

            I reflect on and advocate for some important issues that affect a majority or significant minority

            Not some itty bitty little pet project or personal hobby horse

    2. Bobby

      “Hi, I’m Poisson IV and I’ll say anything contrary just to get the attention I so desperately crave. Please love me!”

        1. Saint Paul

          Saint Paul feels the need to establish a right on consensus here can get the better of some

  3. Just Sayin

    The cycle track should ave been inside the parked cars, i.e. on the footpath.
    Then a rail / fence or bollards to separate cyclists from pedestrians.

    or perhaps just a step / kerb separating pedestrians / cyclists,
    and a fence separating cyclists / cars.

    1. Yea, Ok

      Off-road or behind a kerb etc., rather than directly connected to the opposite traffic’s lane.

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        Thanks all.

        But I see that most cycle lanes in the city are part of the road, i.e.unprotected. Why was a protected cycle lane specifically requested for this small stretch?

        1. Nessy

          If you see in the picture above at the top of the page, the contra flow is also on the road but going against traffic. There’s parking to the left but the cars protrude out from the car spaces and onto the cycle lane. The spot is also used (potentially illegally) for a loading bay. This all means that cyclists are obstructed from using the lane, forcing them onto the road into direct traffic on a really busy road

  4. dhaughton99

    One of the most frightening things in life is cycling in the bike lane and there’s a taxi going at the same speed beside you.

    50/50 you are hitting the kerb.

    1. Charlie

      God forbid you hit the kerb on your high nelly. We can but pray for your safe arrival. Life on Broadsheet just wouldn’t be the same without your daily whinge.

    2. SB

      No, before you hit the kerb there’ll be a drain set 8 inches below road level that you can’t avoid because the taxi is driving 6 inches to your right

  5. Hellvetica

    I think these phoney cycle lines are just drawn around Dublin to fill some EU quota or other they have to meet.
    Dublin is pretty much still a single occupancy car city. Terrible city to walk around as well, which isn’t highlighted enough.

  6. eamonn clancy

    Considering we invented the word “Gobshite” it should come as no surprise that we’re world masters of being one.

  7. Liam from Lixnaw

    id say change that “Via Cian Ginty at IrishCycling.com:” to “Via Cian Ginty at IrishCycle.com:”

    I wouldn’t normally be as pedantic but IrishCycling.com has a very different bike racing focus on its reportings.

    1. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

      Thank you for your contribution Liam from Lixnaw.

      I wouldn’t normally be as pedantic, but if you want to be taken seriously as a pedant you should master basic punctuation first.
      It isn’t difficult. You just have to try.
      You might fall off the first couple of times, but if you persevere…

        1. sǝɯǝɯʇɐpɐq

          You’re really annoying me now.
          Why do you not put full-stops at the end of your stupid comments?

      1. Liam from Lixnaw

        Thanks horse – your level of pedanticism I could never attain. I think I will leave it at that.

  8. 15 cents

    to be fair its a mad tourist spot, hotel and jail there, so ya have to have it well equipped for taxis and buses, cant sacrifice that for bikes, and its only a tiny stretch of road its not like its going to massively impede your journey. its only about the lenght of a basketball court.

    1. Alan C

      They didn’t even do that, there is only enough room for 2 buses (which is less room than before the work) and this is not enough due to the amount of different tour busses and Dublin Bus that stop here.
      There is also no provision for Taxis here, other than a small rank hidden around the corner, but this is useless and nobody looks for a taxi around the corner and no body going to the Jail asks the be left around the corner.
      If they had designed it for buses & taxis then there would be less problems for cyclists.

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