Gormley and Dempsey annouce €5m for cycling

Chips Lovell

Press released just now by de government:

The Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government John Gormley T.D. and the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey T.D. have today
(4 June 09) announced €5 million in funding for cycling infrastructure, including the city centre section of the Sutton to Sandycove (S2S) cycleway.

The money, which will be spent this year and in 2010, will be targeted at developing, improving and repairing cycle ways and cycle lanes.

The Department of the Environment and the Department of Transport will provide matching funding of €2.5 million each towards the city centre section of the S2S and other infrastructure over this period.

The Ministers made the announcement in advance of National Bike Week, which begins on June 14th and runs to June 21st (www.bikeweek.ie).

Dublin City Council is developing detailed proposals for new cycling infrastructure in the city, and the money will be expected to be used towards beginning work on the city centre section of the S2S, the development of a dedicated cycle way along the Grand Canal, and the repair of existing cycle lanes.

Minister Gormley said: *Cycling is being seen more and more as a realistic, cheap and healthy mode of transport. In the last year alone in Dublin there has been an eight per cent increase in cyclist numbers within the canals area. However we have a lot to do if we are to reach levels in other European cities where more than a third of commuters chose cycling. The delivery of safe cycle lanes and cycle paths is an essential element in this.*

Minister Dempsey said; *Cyclists matter. Just like other road users they deserve a safer, easier travelling experience and with this new investment we want to help to make that happen. We are all familiar with the hassle of lengthening journey times and traffic congestion as well as the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
Equally we are aware of the health benefits of pursuing more active lifestyles. That*s why a return to the bike can make very real sense.
I want to see a new culture of cycling in Ireland by 2020. I recently published Ireland*s first national cycle strategy which aims for 10% of all trips to work to be made by bike within the next twelve years.
This funding announced today will help make cycling safer in the Dublin area and hopefully encourage more people to rediscover the up sides of cycling. With National Bike Week approaching I hope people right around the country will get involved and participate in some of the many bike related events that are being organised for that week.*

unionman

On the eve of an election, most impressive.

*Disclaimer* - not a cynic! Delighted to hear any cycling initiatives announced no matter when they are announced.

Any idea what/how/where exactly the S2S will be developed anyone?

Chips Lovell

unionman wrote: »

On the eve of an election, most impressive.

They must be really committed to cycling to take time out of their busy campaigning schedules.

Karma

just back from a road trip to berlin, we are only about 100 years behind...cynical, yes. bike lanes in this country are a joke, "jobs for the boys", as ever. the DTO builds something one year and the next chop and change. Stop trying ideas out, just follow european examples; maybe not Budapest, its like dublin...

cyclopath2001

el tonto wrote: »

They must be really committed to cycling to take time out of their busy campaigning schedules.

It's peanuts compared to the 20 million they claim to have already spent on the Dublin Strategic Cycle Network.

It'll probably get spent on photo-ops, studies, seminars, trips to Denmark/Holland, free high-vis jackets and some token cycle tracks which will be removed a month after the photo-ops.

A good start would be to repeal the 1998 regulations and revert to the 1997 version.

€5m extra plus the €10m already allocated under the NCPF which leaves out of €1.6bn planned... a lot more to go.

Still, it's something.

petethedrummer

Well I suppose it's 5 million more than yesterday. And with the admission in the framework document that facilites are pretty poor we're headed (slowly) in the right direction.

I'm not actually that big of a fan of cycle lanes, I would prefer the shared usage approach to road design.

Blowfish

unionman wrote: »

Any idea what/how/where exactly the S2S will be developed anyone?

Planned route here, plus a few proposals of what it will look like here. By the looks of it, it should be pretty nice for commuting in to town in the morning, but would be hell coming back out if we've nice weather.

Doesn't seem like there'll be a distinction between the cycle and pedestrian paths bar the colour of the path, so people will be wandering all over it when the coast is busy.

cyclopath2001

petethedrummer wrote: »

Well I suppose it's 5 million more than yesterday. And with the admission in the framework document that facilites are pretty poor we're headed (slowly) in the right direction.

They admitted that after 10 years and 20 million euro, there is very little to show for it. But, unless they identify why the original project failed, and get rid of those responsible for the failure, that 5 million will produce nothing useful to cyclists.

Raam

Blowfish wrote: »

Doesn't seem like there'll be a distinction between the cycle and pedestrian paths bar the colour of the path, so people will be wandering all over it when the coast is busy.

People wander all over it as it is anyway.

blorg

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

A good start would be to repeal the 1998 regulations and revert to the 1997 version.

That is already a government commitment in the recent National Cycle Policy Framework

Mandatory Use Regulation
We will revoke the Statutory Instrument that requires cyclists
to use cycle tracks where they are provided - Road Traffic
(Traffic and Parking) Amendment Regulations, S.I. No. 274 (1998).
This regulation is unsatisfactory for a number of reasons:
(i) it is clear that the cycling infrastructure that has been constructed
to date is often of a poor standard and is poorly maintained, and
cyclists are required to use it;
(ii) it can force cyclists to be on cycle tracks and (when they are planning
on continuing straight ahead) to be on the inside of left-turning
vehicles, including Heavy Goods Vehicles;
(iii) if a group of cyclists (on a weekend cycle for example) is using a road
with an off-road cycle-track alongside it, then they are required to use
it – which is not practicable.

Bunnyhopper

Let's hope they set a few quid of the €5,000,000 aside for the cost of actually changing the legislation. How much does a minor amending piece of legislation cost these days?

DadaKopf

What I don't get is why it's another north-south cycleway. Without a plan for the whole of the city being presented, it's hard to see how this is anything other than a vote-winner. The N-S transport axis (which includes the DART and buses) privileges more affluent suburbs and practically bypasses the city centre. So sayeth James Wickham from TCD talking about the DART. What about the East-West axis, or the NE, SW, SE ... axes?

I'm with petethedrummer on shared space, though I'm not sure it can be applied everywhere.

I just hope that this S2S route forms just one part of city-wide cycle network of good quality.

I read the National Cycling Policy Framework and it contains some great stuff, if only even half of it can be implemented. And some major things don't even have to cost much, like letting bikes on public transport.