This evening.

Aidan Regan tweetz:

Just cycled the entire length of the quays, from the IFSC to Heuston station.

What an absolute nightmare.

I have seen better cycle infrastructure in the poorest of the poorest part of the city centre in Eastern Europe.

It’s a miracle someone has not been killed biking here.

Earlier: Don’t Stop Pedalling

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30 thoughts on “Beware

  1. Slightly Bemused

    I have walked the same stretch and it is no joke as a pedestrian! I am not surprised in any way that a cyclist has trouble, particularly in the last stretch as cars try to figure out which lane they should be in. Even as a driver in those areas I was afraid for my own life!

  2. some old queen

    No amount of traffic management and pavement / road ratios is going to change the fact that in certain areas of Dublin City Center, the square meter (m2) streets ebb and flow so here is a tip- if you feel that the space is getting too risky- GET OFF AND WALK.

    It is a medieval city center ffs- that is it folks- deal with it- no buildings are going to shift then say sorry, Although the way some treat pedestrian while cycling on pavements- a few probably do.

      1. some old queen

        Center vs. centre

        There is no difference in meaning between center and centre. Center is the preferred spelling in American English, and centre is preferred in varieties of English from outside the U.S.

        Given that most spell checkers will correct s to z- you are going to have a long day correcting most comments on this site.

    1. George

      Totally wrong there. There are many wide streets in Dublin and almost no cycle lanes. We do however have no shortage of streets with parking on both sides and no shortage of streets with 3 lanes of traffic going in one direction. A safe city cycle route is planned and will be built without moving any building. Some space will be taken away from cars though.

      And Dublin is not a “medieval city”. There is very little that survives from medieval times and there was something called the “Wide Streets Commission” that you should read up on.

      1. some old queen

        I was referring to that specific route which was is as old as it gets- even walking on the pavements along there can turn into a contact sport. Turn left off Parliament Street for example- and the pavement down to single file.

        It is just not possible to install a cycle lane along that route without turning all other traffic into a single lane and even that won’t work. There is a series of very busy bus stops running from The Clarence down to The Workman’s Club on Wellington Quay for a start.

        1. george

          You might do your research. There is this thing called the “Liffey cycle route” which is planned. It is going to be a two way cycle route on both sides of the river.

          Have a look at Google Streetview and show me the “single-file” pavement at Parliament street because it doesn’t exist.

          Your assumption that wherever there is a shortage of space cars should be prioritised is also wrong.

          1. george

            Sorry, Swanky but “pavement” is used in the Road Traffic Act and the word dates back to the 13th century. “Sidewalk” is what the Americans say.

          2. some old queen

            I don’t need to do my research, I lived on the Quays for years- I know every m2 of them. I am trying to make sense of those plans- would a GIS be too much to ask?

            It looks like it starts at building side then flips to river at O’Donavan Bridge.
            Either way what they cannot do is make more space- the distance between buildings and river remains the same. At its tightest, like two corners of Grattan Bridge- they cannot shave any more pavement away without it becoming a danger to pedestrians. The only thing they have to work with is in parts, those single file pavements on the river side but even that would not be enough. Goodbye trees- obviously.

            It’s a creative design- in more ways than one- they’ll need some sort of markers or barriers of course because even now there is only inches between vehicles and lines painted on the road won’t make a blind bit of difference.

          3. george

            It is a fully separated cycle route not a painted lane. You do need to do your research because you didn’t even know of the plan’s existence and still don’t know the basics. You also demonstrate an embarrassing lack of knowledge about cycling while imaging yourself to be an expert.

    2. kdoc

      Isn’t Amsterdam a medieval city centre? They seem to embrace cycling as a mode of transport – and it’s safer than Dublin.

    3. Kingfisher

      The quays in their present form started to be built as recently as the 18th century, didn’t they? Before that they were slipways into a marshy tidal river that extended inland as far as Merrion Square in places. It was William Bligh’s Bull Wall and South Wall that scoured the riverbed out so it was deep enough for (then) modern shipping.

      Aside from all that, the cars have to go. The time for having people using a big metal object to haul around each individual while polluting the air is over. We need better and healthier transport.

  3. Spaghetti Hoop

    I drove down the quays too this evening. Dangerous cycling observed – (a) cycling down the centre of the bus lane, impeding the flow of traffic and (b) cycling without lights or reflectors or both.

    1. george

      Better build the protected cycle route straight away so.

      You should repeat the exercise by bike and do a comparison. You will particularly enjoy the O’Connell Bridge to Parliament Street section.

    2. click here

      “cycling down the centre of the bus lane”

      Oh dear.

      The positioning of the pedal cycle you’ve described here is called primary position. Contrary to your claim that it’s dangerous, it is in fact safe as well as being legal: every lane is a cycle lane, and there are many reasons for taking primary position (including preparing to change lanes, avoiding hazards, discouraging unsafe overtaking).

      Additionally, doing so is not “impeding the flow of traffic,” as you say. Pedal cycles are traffic, and proceeding at a moderate pace below the 30km/h speed limit is no impediment.

      Are you sure you have a valid driver’s licence?

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        Oh dear.
        Were you even there?
        Little lesson for you; when the bus lanes open in the evening, there is an opportunity for the congestion in the city centre to clear. What I witnessed on the westbound quays was one cyclist merrily sailing down the centre of a bus lane, where there was safe passage along the left with other cyclists, at about 7km per hour with a line of packed buses and cars crawling behind it. Impeding traffic extends to all road-users. It’s just as dangerous for a motorist to crawl along the median lane of a motorway at 50km per hour.

  4. Plastic Bertrand

    “IFSC to Heuston station” is not “the entire length of the quays”. But if you work in the IFSC you wouldn’t know that, would you?

  5. Jim

    Years ago DCC asked the public for ideas to improve the city. I suggested extending the boardwalk on both sides and making that the footpath and cycle lane. More space then on road for buses etc. Forcing more use of boardwalk might also solve asb problem via passive surveillance. Just an idea.

    1. george

      Businesses on the quays needs footpaths for their customers to get to their shops.
      removing one relatively narrow footpath along the riverside will not provide significant space for cars and you still need space for traffic lights and signage currently located on the footpath.

      It would also probably create safety issues for people crossing from the bridges and would restrict pedestrian movement generally making the city more hostile. Your plan would also require the removal of quite a few trees.

      We don’t need to give more space to cars. We need to implement the existing Liffey Cycle Route plan.

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