PLANS TO build Europe's longest urban seafront promenade and cycle path, extending 22

barrabus

Cyclists should make sure they get involved in the planning stage ... other wise it could turn out to be an obstacle course

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0212/1233867932710.html

PLANS TO build Europe’s longest urban seafront promenade and cycle path, extending 22km from Sutton to Sandycove, have been revealed by Dublin City Council.

The initial designs for the long-awaited Sutton to Sandycove (S2S) cycleway, which was first proposed in 2002, were shown yesterday to city councillors.

The eight metre-wide path, which will run next to the coast for most of its length and will form part of the city’s flood defences, will be developed in four stages.

The first, S2S north, will close the gap in the current promenade and cycle path running from Clontarf to Sutton. This path was put in place by the council in the early 1990s but a gap was left between the Bull Wall and the Wooden Bridge because no solution could be found to building on the environmentally sensitive lagoon area.

The new design solution is to combine a pile-supported promenade, retaining wall and cable stayed cycle facility. The environmental impact assessment has recently been approved by An Bord Pleanála.

The next section of the route is the S2S city centre link, connecting Alfie Byrne Road to Sandymount. Minister for the Environment John Gormley allocated €3 million to the project in his carbon budget last October.

In addition to a direct route from Clontarf, through East Wall across the East Link Bridge to Ringsend, there will be additional cycle links to the city centre and new crossing points for bicycles.

The third part, which will cause the council the most logistical difficulties, is the S2S south. The council has divided this stretch into four sections: section A: Seán Moore Park to Merrion Gates; section B: Merrion Gates to Brighton Vale; section C: Brighton Vale to Dún Laoghaire West Pier, and section West Pier to the East Pier.

While the first part of the route has an existing promenade, the Dart meets the coast at the Merrion Gates, effectively blocking off any promenade access. There are also houses backing on to the sea at several parts of the route, as well as EU-protected habitats for birds and other wildlife.

The final section, from Dún Laoghaire to Sandycove, will be developed separately by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.

No date has yet has been given for the route’s start or completion.

Dob74

They should go to Chicago and just copy thier lake front. Parks, beachs, cycle and running paths the whole way(about 25 miles). Most of it is built on recliamed land.

NeilMcEoigheann

barrabus wrote: »

No date has yet has been given for the route’s start or completion.

that sounds promising

kenmc

Most importantly though :

No date has yet has been given for the route’s start or completion.

Won't happen in my lifetime.

Raam

Well this will make the commute home a couple of minutes quicker.

Chips Lovell

barrabus wrote: »

The first, S2S north, will close the gap in the current promenade and cycle path running from Clontarf to Sutton. This path was put in place by the council in the early 1990s but a gap was left between the Bull Wall and the Wooden Bridge because no solution could be found to building on the environmentally sensitive lagoon area.

The existing stretch is covered in dog walkers, roller bladers and joggers. If the rest of it turns out like that, then it won't be much use.

ROK ON

barrabus wrote: »

PLANS TO build Europe’s longest urban seafront promenade and cycle path, extending 22km from Sutton to Sandycove
...eight metre-wide path, which will run next to the coast for most of its length and will form part of the city’s flood defences,

Erm, no thanks.:)

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

The existing stretch is covered in dog walkers, roller bladers and joggers. If the rest of it turns out like that, then it won't be much use.

This bike lane is heavily used by commuter cyclists. Sure there are joggers and walkers, but I'm happy that it exists.

barrabus

el tonto wrote: »

The existing stretch is covered in dog walkers, roller bladers and joggers. If the rest of it turns out like that, then it won't be much use.

quite possibly.
engaging in the process is the best hope we have of minimising the risk tho.

NeilMcEoigheann

it should have a line of those bendy plastic barriers like on oconnell st near the bridge so that the cycle lane is segrigated and maybe people will remember that it is a lane not for them.... but here i am being all hopefull

ROK ON

el tonto wrote: »

The existing stretch is covered in dog walkers, roller bladers and joggers. If the rest of it turns out like that, then it won't be much use.

Ot if its like the board walk by the Liffey, will be just full of junkies.

Waste of time, effort and money IMHO.

Spend the money, time and effort on:
(1) Having adequate surfaces on existing roads/cyclelanes,
(2) Having wide enough roads (on main routes into and out of city ) for bike and non-bike traffic to share the roads,
(3) Enforcing the current road traffic regulations.

lostexpectation

the report highlights the beach at sandymount and how birds go there, its not a very big beach for most of the time, taking a few metres from it is significant, not that it can be avoided, the bird people will object.

i noted the they say they don't want to refurbish the south pier wall, cos of health and safety reasons, people walk on it but i guess they don't want to encourage too many to do so.

Anyone have a link to this plan? Can't seem to find anything on DCC's website.

Tackleberry

Moany Bacstards!! I think it sounds great, standard Irish pessimism - in any other country we'd be delighted, especially in the depths of a recession, its these little things that'll get us through the crap times, like that retarded ref giving us a peno last night!

flickerx

ROK ON wrote: »

Ot if its like the board walk by the Liffey, will be just full of junkies.

Waste of time, effort and money IMHO.

Spend the money, time and effort on:
(1) Having adequate surfaces on existing roads/cyclelanes,
(2) Having wide enough roads (on main routes into and out of city ) for bike and non-bike traffic to share the roads,
(3) Enforcing the current road traffic regulations.

I disagree. While the above features are required for cycle lanes too, I think it is a nice stretch of road to have a bicycle path, I never commuted along the stretch to Howth but many times me and friends (who wouldnt be as hardcore cyclists as us here on the board) went out along the coast, and it was very pleasant. I think it would work well as a good tourist attraction, supporting local businesses along the way, and maybe even take away some of the heavy car traffic that builds up on hot weekends. There's nice diversions along the route too, beyond just cycling, like the Star of the Sea at Dollymount, or finishing up the route at the 40 foot for a jump in the freezing water.

The boardwalk is hardly 'full' of junkies, usually along a 1km (or however long it is) there are two or three groups of four or five people, if you walked that distance in the city centre you'd come across them anyway, they're just out enjoying the public amenity like the rest of us, and I've never had any hassle from any of them. This area for the proposed cycle path is not in the middle of the city, and its not a place really where large groups of people congregate at night, there wouldnt be any junkies hanging out at it (and you'd be on a bike, so just cycle past them).

Caroline_ie

MMMMmm North to South ... there's GOT TO BE a catch ...

jeffontour

ROK ON wrote: »

Waste of time, effort and money IMHO.

Spend the money, time and effort on:
(1) Having adequate surfaces on existing roads/cyclelanes,
(2) Having wide enough roads (on main routes into and out of city ) for bike and non-bike traffic to share the roads,
(3) Enforcing the current road traffic regulations.

This is not just an amenity for cyclists, it will encourage those living on the coast and further afield to get out and enjoy the bay for the great attraction it is, be it by bike or on foot. It's for this reason I hope it's implemented as best it can and is used appropriately.

ROK ON

@Flicerx: I am not saying that it would not be a nice amenity, however, we are in a recession and the Govt has a finite amount of money that it can borrow. On that basis, I would prioritise my spending along the lines of necessity or nice to have. This would be nice to have definitely, but may not be a necessity.
(Given that half the cathcment area is the Irish sea, it is questionable how many people it would regulalry benefit.:))

But yeah, if money was not tight, then sure, go ahead and build it. (BTW, the original post stated that there was no date for this potential project).

Also, I work pretty close to the board walk, and it is full of junkies on a daily basis. Not 4 or 5 of them either. Some days up to 40 I would imagine.
But I guess they have to hang somewhere.

Chips Lovell

Tackleberry wrote: »

Moany Bacstards!! I think it sounds great, standard Irish pessimism - in any other country we'd be delighted, especially in the depths of a recession, its these little things that'll get us through the crap times, like that retarded ref giving us a peno last night!

We're used to being disappointed. Other countries aren't.

ROK ON

jeffontour wrote: »

This is not just an amenity for cyclists, it will encourage those living on the coast and further afield to get out and enjoy the bay for the great attraction it is, be it by bike or on foot. It's for this reason I hope it's implemented as best it can and is used appropriately.

Ah come on now. People enjoy the coast every weekend as far as I can see, and this amenity does not exist. I dont want to be a Victor Meldrew type character, but we dont need this IMO.

jeffontour

ROK ON wrote: »

I dont want to be a Victor Meldrew type character, but we dont need this IMO.

Fair enough, we disagree on the needed or not part then. I believe it will encourage more people to get out and enjoy the coast. The more people who do the better for the city.

There was a similar attitude to the boardwalk on the Liffey, sure aren't there paths there already kinda thing. But I believe it has added to the city as I believe this proposal will, as well as providing somewhere for the junkies on the coast!

Gavin

I think it's a great idea, well worth the money !

Raam

I've yet to see one obvious junkie from Clontarf to Sutton after 4 or 5 years of daily commuting. I doubt they will all leave the comfort of door steps in Dublin city center in order to sit on some new bench at Bull Island

alfalad

While i agree that a lot of other work on cycle lanes and roads in the city need attention to encourage more people to cycle to work this proposal would be excellent! Anybody who uses the small stretch in Clontarf and out to Sutton during a summers evening will tell you it is very well used, by walkers, joggers, rollerbladers and cyclists! Now that in itself cause a problem as it is too full, but it shows that it would be used and the new stretch would be 8 metres wide is that right? Which would be plenty to sort that problem. And although there would be a large cost, there would be a lot of benefits, that would save some money in health costs, help and encourage people to get fit and active! Also it would give people a cheap and healthy past time! Even my gf will uses the current cycle path and hates any exercise besides walking!
Also to encourage people to cycle to work they need to build confidence on a bike, so a quiet cyclepath would surely also help with this until they are happy to face the roads!

As for the junkies etc, there are none on the current cyclepath and living in Sandymount can't see there being many here or Sutton or Sandycove etc!

flickerx

ROK ON wrote: »

This would be nice to have definitely, but may not be a necessity.
(Given that half the catchment area is the Irish sea, it is questionable how many people it would regulalry benefit.:))

What defines a necessity, especially in a recession? It will be an amenity for people to relax and enjoy, thats free, you wont have to pay any cycle along the track and take in the view of the Irish sea. I think in a recession when people are depressed and feeling miserable, it generally makes people happy to go out for a walk or cycle, get into the fresh air, and clear the head a bit. I would prioritise this above any extra road building (extra roads just make people more depressed).

I see the smiley face at the end of that last sentence about half the catchment area being the Irish Sea so maybe its a joke but it still doesnt make much sense to me. The catchment area for this project is around half a million people, who can reach it fairly easily on a bicycle. Maybe even more. I reckon thats worth investing in.

And as jeffontour said, people said the same thing about the boardwalk - thats a massive waste of taxpayers money, sure why would anyone want to sit along the banks of the filthy stinking Liffey in the summer? Yet come the slightest ray of sunshine, every spot on the benches is full, with people chilling out, eating food and drinking coffee, enjoying the space.

Its a big project but I really hope it gets built. Personally I'd love to see an east coast cycle corridor/path from somewhere like Carlingford Lough down to Carnsore Point, or even just down to somewhere like Donabate, maybe they could build it with cross-border initiative cash.

ROK ON

flickerx wrote: »

Personally I'd love to see an east coast cycle corridor/path from somewhere like Carlingford Lough down to Carnsore Point, or even just down to somewhere like Donabate, maybe they could build it with cross-border initiative cash.

If we are going to do that, I would vote for a special cycle road all over wicklow. From the mountains down to the lakes, and maybe extending ll the way down to Brittas Bay for a quick dip.
It could be like a modern recession version of the famine relief schemes.

Raam

ROK ON wrote: »

If we are going to do that, I would vote for a special cycle road all over wicklow. From the mountains down to the lakes, and maybe extending ll the way down to Brittas Bay for a quick dip.
It could be like a modern recession version of the famine relief schemes.

Isn't that what the roads around the Sally Gap pretty much are anyway?

strummer_ie

Myth wrote: »

Anyone have a link to this plan? Can't seem to find anything on DCC's website.

There is a link at: http://www.s2s.ie but looks quite old,
anyone find any more recently updated news on this ?

It's nice to see some forward thinking on these projects for a change
ie. we need flood defences, so what can else can we improve while we're at it...

ROK ON

Raam wrote: »

Isn't that what the roads around the Sally Gap pretty much are anyway?

Well I have had to share the road with a lady on a horse, several flocks of sheep and been nearly attacked by goats at various times over the past few months.
Horse lady was the nicest - she would be welcome on my special mountain cycle path.:)

lostexpectation

forget about s2s there of parts of the roads there that need cycle lanes because its very busy,crowded and oldish roads

scottreynolds

This is a brilliant idea. I don't care about the people walking about or the on/off bike path I have on Sutton - Clontarf. This is the best commute in Dublin and these measures will only make it better. Its a pretty safe way in and out of the city. My only pet hate about that route are the other cyclists with no lights

Turbulent Bill

ROK ON wrote: »

Also, I work pretty close to the board walk, and it is full of junkies on a daily basis. Not 4 or 5 of them either. Some days up to 40 I would imagine.
But I guess they have to hang somewhere.

All those guys doing drugs could take up cycling. Oh, hang on...

lostexpectation

the link is at the dublin regional autority, a body set up to divy up eu funds, 10years later...
http://www.dra.ie/s2s.html