Traffic madness today. I took this video at 3pm today at the halfway point in the Phoenix Park. In my view the side gates should be opened up now. I will be making that clear to the OPW. #dubw pic.twitter.com/eMB6Hkm3hX
— Ted Leddy (@TedLeddy) November 22, 2020
Ah here.
Yesterday.
Phoenix Park, Dublin.
OPEN the side gates!
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All within their 5k limit. Yeah right. Irish people need to accept they have a problem with their addiction to cars.
Exactly. The answer is to close all the gates to vehicular traffic.
Yep – our attitude to the outside world and weather is getting worse every year, kinda sad.
Obvious there is very poor public transport in many areas of the country but using the weather as an excuse or driving back and forth for under 3-5K is ridiculous
most of the people in those queues were families, many with young kids. It is unrealistic to expect someone with 3 young kids to walk or cycle 4km each way to enjoy a publicly funded amenity. The OPW is forgetting who it is there to serve.
Like it or lump it, the Phoenix park is a major traffic artery DCC have shown extraordinary contempt for planning and don’t get me started on how disgracefully bad the contempt that has been shown by DCC for the less abled access to the park by banning car movement. The gates must be opened until there is a workable alternative in place. Cyclists need to comprehend that car use will correctly be used as the main form of transport for the majority. Just banning things for the sake of it is never a solution.
bodger, can we please BAN this commenter
Even when it was the OPW I knew it was the cyclists!
scrawny arsed feckers
As a cyclist, I choose not to accept that, and gleefully laugh at those stuck in traffic, if you’re driving to the phoenix park expect to get stuck in traffic, its 5km walk it and if you cant walk it and need the car all the more reason for everyone else to walk it, #notofatlumpsincars.
You’d think motorists would be all in favour of better cycling/pedestrain/public transport infrastructure because they would all mean less cars on the road and less time stuck in traffic, I can’t get my head around the way so many of them can’t work that equation but turn it into a tribal fight.
Why on earth is there a ‘major traffic artery’ running through a public park? This is lunacy. It should be closed to traffic altogether.
if there was no road through the park, you would probably be one of those screaming that there should be.
Well, you’d be wrong – there are loads of alternative routes outside the park; motorists should just use one of them.
So, why are the gates closed?
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/gates-at-dublin-s-phoenix-park-to-close-over-weekends-1.4395454
Requested by An Garda “in support of the restrictions which prohibit non-essential travel beyond 5km”
An Garda clearly under the control of Big Bicycle.
Because the ‘rona only sneaks in by the side gates- don’t you know nothing Ticko Micko?
Cars are important because they offer so many benefits to so many people. But they exclude many people too. For example the following people are excluded by cars:
• Everyone under the age of 17
• Those who can’t afford €600 for a driver’s licence.
• Those who can’t afford to run a car (the AA estimates car running costs of ~€10,000 per annum).
• People with disabilities e.g. visual impairment, intellectual disability.
• People who don’t want to drive on the left hand side of the road or who don’t have an Irish drivers licence.
• Those who don’t want to drive.
Despite how exclusive cars are, the Irish government allocates €600 per annum per citizen to the maintenance of roads.
While your post seems fair, I’d just say that whatever money is spent on roads (you say €600/person) these roads are used by and for everyone – not just car owners. This may be either for transporting people .i.e. buses, taxis, or goods: shops use delivery vans/trucks to be stocked.
Secondly, car owners pay a lot of additional taxes/duties that others don’t – VRT, duty on petrol.
Yes, they pay those taxes due to the massive harm that driving does.
The people driving to their local park (excluding the small number of blue badge holders) are causing the problem. They’re not victims.
Someone driving a private, single-occupancy vehicle occupies a lot more road space, and generates a lot more wear-and-tear, than a person walking or cycling (or indeed one person on a bus).
10,000 is a crazy figure, I had a quick look at their breakdown, which is a horrible mess of numbers that is hard to read .
https://www.theaa.ie/aa/motoring-advice/cost-of-motoring.aspx
No doubt a car is pricey to run but can be done for far less than 10,000.
Also in making a comparison you need to consider than figures that are included in that 10,000 you would have to pay if you went with an alternative, e.g. parking/fuel alternative is paying for public transport which could easily be over 1,000 a year.
The 600 isn’t allocated for the sole purpose of car users. How do you think groceries get to shops, via roads, whilst yes roads are used by cars they are also a requirement to allow commercial activity to take place.
As a cyclist, I choose not to accept that, and gleefully laugh at those stuck in traffic, if you’re driving to the phoenix park expect to get stuck in traffic, its 5km, walk it, and if you cant walk it and need the car all the more reason for everyone else to walk it, #notofatlumpsincars.
Release the lions
Yeah make them work for those donations – throw in a couple of baboons to rip the wing mirrors off and it’s sorted
I’ve been running in Phoenix Park for over nine years, at least twice per week (since March at least four times per week), and I’ve never seen traffic as bad as yesterday. I think it’s time to close all gates or establish toll booths on both sides of Chesterfield Avenue. Failing that, the side roads should be closed with the exception of the road from the Papal Cross to the Chapelizod Gate to facilitate a connection to St Mary’s hospital, and the road from the northern roundabout to Farmleigh parking lot and from the southern roundabout to Garza and Zoo entrances.. If Chesterfield Avenue remains open, there should be pedestrian-operated traffic lights at each roundabout.
As far as I’m concerned, the reason for closing the side gates is to allow people maintain social distancing. Moving cycle traffic onto road along Chesterfield Avenue opened up pedestrian paths that are wide enough to allow for proper social distancing, especially since OPW made the former cycle lanes one-way only. There wasn’t such space along the perimeter roads. With side gates open, cars were often blocking the already narrow footpaths. Especially around Ashtown gate, cars often parked across the entire footpath (I usually stopped in my run, photographed the worst offenders and sent them to OPW and Garda). The quickest way to stop that and allow pedestrians (many of whom may also be drivers who parked responsibly) to properly socially distance on the footpaths. The reduction in traffic also allows pedestrians to walk short distances on the roads while avoiding others. Yesterday, this was exactly the case along North Road, where the footpath was choke-full with pedestrians.
As much as the running brigade like to use this common amenity, isn’t it right that it should be open for families too?
Delighted at weekends to see all ages and abilities pile out of a car for an afternoon of healthy exercise in this treasured space.
Children don’t need to be driven to the Phoenix Park.
Of course not. Sure let them off there along the NCR on their tricycles and skateboards.
I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t exactly look like much of a ‘treasured space’ in that video above, gridlocked with cars.
You are judging over 7km² of park based on one road through it.
It is open for families. They are more than welcome. However the parents deciding to drive the 4km to the park instead of walking/cycling is the problem. If cycling/walking is not possible for whatever reason, then…do something else! Its not all about one family’s ability to easily ‘pile out of the car’ in a park.
There were plenty of families in the park. They packed the North Road footpath so much that I was happy for the side gates to be closed. This allowed me to run on the road, to give more space to the families.
I’ve also seen plenty of adults with children trying to cross Chesterfield Avenue, some of them surely trying to reach their cars. I bet all of them would appreciate traffic lights across the avenue.
The lack of self-awareness here is incredible. Ruining the enjoyment of the park for all including themselves and they think they’re victims.
But surely you know that traffic congestion is caused by other people
Ok
So yesterday got out of hand
But this is an OPW facility
Open to all
Give over with the toll booths and the locking of gates
FFS
Get proper parking facilities instead
Fiver a day or whatever
Open to all? The people in their cars aren’t welded into them. With the exception of blue badge holders this is rubbish. And if car access was restricted to blue badge holders they’d be much better off.
If I want to arrive by helicopter must I be accommodated? Is it discrimination against helicopter pilots?
Providing parking for €5 a day would result in people parking there and going off to work. The daily parking rates in Dublin are much higher.
a fiver or whatever George
If the Pheonix Park is not open for all
Like a reserved for pedestrians introduction then
Move Garda HQ, the Áras, the Ambassador’s gaff etc
Stop Bikes, carriages, escooters scooters and skateboards
Roller skates and roller blades
And whatever your having yourselves
No matter what there’ll always be some crib
Install regulated car parks
Or introduce some park n’ ride Setups
And that’ll sort it out
Why should a public park be used to provide you with a subsidised place to store your private property – should we turn St Stephen’s Green into parking spaces as well, render it more “accessible” for people who are too lazy to walk to the bus stop?
There are loads of public transport options to get to the Phoenix Park already.
I”m not looking for cheap city parking Rob
I’m just proffering a solution to the unruly parking behind this latest conniption
Thanks for your Ted talk on transportation. I cant believe nobody thought of these solutions before.
#MeToo
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#NeitherNotToo