Improving cycling on the Liffey Quays

The Liffey Cycle Route is a 'must have' project for Dublin . It is strong on vision, and just like the Grand Canal Cycle Route it will attract increased numbers of cyclists once it is built. Currently cycles feel the squeeze at too many locations.

So why have I requested further information on the four options that were made available for consultation earlier this year? Let me explain. 

Four options were presented to the public as part of a non-statutory public consultation earlier this year. You can see them here. Actually they aren't that easy to see, as the detail drawings are large files that can take several minutes to download. What you can see though are images for each of the four options. As you can imagine most people went for the option showing a green park. The schemes could have been better presented, but that's not my main concern. I'll discuss the problems with the preferred route (Option 3) below.

1. It involves diverting buses and most traffic to the north of the Croppies' Acre Park. This involves running a ten metre-wide road through the mini park shown in the image above. This would effectively divide the park in front of the Aisling Hotel in two. It would also involve demolishing a large chunk of the red brick buildings that are part of the Civil Defence premises on Temple Street West. These have been used for homeless accommodation in recent winters and the buildings are of some merit in themselves. This small park will be bisected and become a busy road.

2.  All buses that currently use the north Quays will be diverted to Benburb Street and then on to a route just south of the Luas tracks as far East as Church Street. The problem is that there's an apartment block ('Smithfield Lofts') under construction (Ref. 2992/14) just west of Smithfield and this is a real obstacle to allowing this to go ahead. You can see a crane on site in this image. I'm not sure how this can be addressed other than by re-routing buses back down Queen Street. Incidentally Dublin Bus has expressed concern about their buses being re-routed from their current alignment.

3. This option also reroutes traffic around the larger Croppies' Acre park, effectively placing a two-lane 'chicane' in front of the Collins Barracks entrance at the eastern boundary to the park. The drawings show a wide curved road at this point. I'm sure this could be refined in detailed drawings, but for the moment it seems clumsy, not very-pedestrian friendly and more suited to cars than people..

4. The main advantage of the preferred option is that it takes vehicular traffic away from Wolfe Tone Quay leaving the cyclists with a pleasant quay-side cycle route. It also allows the park to stretch towards the quay walls. While this sounds good in principle I suspect that in practise it could be a bit intimidating to cyclists at night time.  No-one likes sharing road-space with lots of traffic but a few passing cars at night-time can increase passive security. I'm sure that the route would involve decent lighting, but the centre of the park is a long way from nearby homes. 

My preference if for Route 1 which places a two-way cycle route on the North Quays but doesn't divert vehicular traffic away from the river. At the narrowest point on Arran Quay a boardwalk (just like the one further downriver) may be required to facilitate pedestrian traffic and the narrow footpath on the right of this image would be removed and replaced by a three metre wide two-way cycle route.

None of the options presented to the public dealt with the mess of a junction that is Frank Sherwin Bridge. This is the road bridge closest to Heuston Station. Further work will be required to calm traffic and reduce the conflicts at this location for any of the four options.

At the Transportation Strategic Policy Committee which I chaired) on 10th June 2015 we agreed to note (NOT defer) the report. We also agreed to seek further information on all four options before we go through a formal Part VIII planning consultation. We're also going to arrange on on-site meeting to walk and cycle the route. We'll ask the Conservation officer,  the Parks Superintendent and the Planning Department for their views, and present the proposals to the Central Area Committee in July. That way when we meet again in September we'll be in a better position to decide on how best to pursue the project.

On your Bike

Had a good meeting with Mayor Andrew Montague and the team from the Dublin Fifth Province team this afternoon.

We were brainstorming on the issue of cycling, and how to build on the success of the Dublin Bikes, the Cycle to Work Scheme and other initiatives that have led to a rise in cycling in recent years.

Here's my own suggestions:

1. Provide traffic calming on the roads that encourage speeding. These are often one way streets that get wider as you travel down them. I'm thinking of Kildare Street as you travel towards Stephen's Green from Nassau Street, or the West side of Parnell Square as you head towards Dorset Street. This one's a pet hate of mine. You can stand and watch expectant mothers legging it across the 'Formula One' junction (thanks Andrew) at the top of Parnell Square near the Municipal Art Gallery to get out of the way of speeding car. Tighter curve radii, road narrowing and rumble strips can help slow down traffic, even tree planting can contribute to a sense of enclosure and help calm the traffic.

2. Provide child priority zones with good signs in residential neighbourhoods and near schools. Perhaps the 30 kph signs could have a logo of a child to remind car drivers of the vulnerability of young children to speeding.

3. Provide cycle lanes on fast multi-lane roads. By fast I mean roads where the speed limit is over 30 kph.  On slower roads it may be possible to provide enough passive enforcement to keep cars to the speed limit, but at  higher speeds we need to provide cycle lanes, particularly for less skilled or less confident cyclists.

4. Retrofit quality cycle routes beside canals, the coast and rivers. This means the Liffey Quays as well as alongside the Tolka, the Dodder and the Royal and Grand Canals. It's fascinating how the lane reductions on Wolfe Tone Quay after the floods hasn't led to the City grinding to a halt. My strong view is that we need to widen footpaths and provide a decent continuous cycle lane on both the North and South Quays.

5. Produce a 'We Love Cyclists' sticker for buildings used by the public.  Such a notice could make it clear that cyclists are welcome, and indicate where bike racks are located, and show the distance to Dublin Bike stations or nearby bike routes. As Andrew pointed out, there's always that slightly embarrassing moment when you enter a lobby and stop to remove you wet weather gear. You can't help but think that a security guard is about to hop on you, thinking that you're about to strip off. A welcoming sign would reassure you and might make others think about getting on their bike.

6. Provide contra-flow cycle lanes on one-way streets. I remember Carmencita Hederman arguing for this on the City Council twenty years ago with limited success. It took years to convince the Council to provide even the most minimalist stretches of contra-flow on North Brunswick Street. We need to have such lanes on roads like Merrion Row and Nassau Street. The new scheme on Newtown Avenue in Blackrock that I worked on  with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Manager Owen Keegan is now open and shows how successful it can be to put in the missing link in the chain.

7. Publicise the benefits of cycling. We need to promote cycling in the same way that cars are advertised on those J.C. Decaux advertising signs. It's an easy gig really - arrive on time, keep fit, meet your friends, save the planet, there's no shortage of reasons for cycling. Think about what some budding Mad Men (or Women) could do with the cycling brand.

8. Gradually reduce car parking. Apparently the City of Copenhagen reduced the amount of car parking over the last thirty years in a 'soft stick' approach to favouring the bike. Naturally this was done in tandem with improving cycling facilities. Currently over 35% of journeys  to work in that city are by bike, starting from a low base back in the 1970s, and that's in a city where the cycle lanes require a lot of snowplowing in the winter months.

9. Let the public decide on budgets for cycling. I suspect if people knew that cycling only get the crumbs of the transport cake when it comes to budgets than they'd ensure that cycling get its fair share. Personally I'd dedicate at least 20% of the City Council's transport staff time as well as capital and current transport budget to cycling initiatives. The reduced traffic congestion and improvement in public health should cover the cost.

10. Re-educate the professionals - Engineers, the Road Safety Authority and the Gardaí. OK, maybe we should call it Continuous Professional Development, but there is an information deficit, and in some cases resistance in certain professional quarters to recognising and promoting cycling. If the Gardaí put more effort into stopping cars speeding than deterring jay-walking the streets of Dublin would be much safer. The Road Safety Authority could concentrate more on ensuring that car drivers think about cyclists more often. For instance on the Continent some countries teach car drivers to open the driver's door with their 'gear stick' hand so that they instinctively check behind for cyclists before opening the door. Having cycled into car doors on more than one occasion it would be nice to think that more car drivers would look behind them before opening the door. I'd also like to see more Engineering schools offering CPD or Diplomas in cycle planning.

They were my thoughts on the issues. Others discussed providing for the needs of children on the road;  increasing the amount of women cyclists,  and reducing traffic speeds to limit deaths and injuries. We also touched on Shared Space issues and the work of Dutch Engineer Hans Monderman

The work that the Fifth Province is undertaking will hopefully lead to a safer more vibrant capital city, and I'm looking forward to the results of their research.

Finally, best wishes to Ciaran Fallon as he heads off to pastures new from his position as Dublin Cycling Officer over the last few years . Let's ensure that the position is filled soon, not watered down and that his successor achieves as much success in the post as he did.

Ciaran, "Go n-éirí an bóthar leat, agus go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl!"