cycle route booterstown to city centre(by liberty hall bottom of gardiner street area

D500B

Hi,
does anyone cycle this route? what's the best way. I tried sticking to the rock road/merrion road as far as the canal then cutting down onto the quays - this was a bit of a mistake - lots of annoying cobblestowns before you reach the liffey. Then once on the quays I presume I could use the cycle lanes - but these don't seem to have any designated direction on them. people seem to cycle both ways on the cycle path.
I mainly just want the quickest way where you can avoid traffic jams on roads where you can't squeeze past cars or even worse buses.
cheers,
D

Doctor Bob

I have a similar route, though I start east of the Dart line rather than west of it. Park Avenue, that runs parallel to Merrion Road and Strand Road, is very lightly trafficked in the morning, so even though the surface quality is poor in places there's plenty of space to weave around the potholes. Alternatively, there's Strand Road, which has the advantage of a lovely view and the disadvantage of occasionally high winds. Either of these ultimately takes you to Pearse Street and onto Tara Street: the traffic on Pearse is quite fast moving and there are a few nasty potholes, though it's fine if you ride confidently and visibly; Tara has one of the worst cycle surfaces in the city, with almost the whole left lane rutted and pockmarked, not to mention the two left turns off it that drivers sometimes take too quickly. I tend to take a deep breath and hope for the best. (Not really! The same advice applies- ride confidently, visibly and as predictably as possible.) Then it's over the bridge, past Liberty Hall, behind the Custom House and Bob's your uncle!

The cycle track on John Rogerson's Quay campshires is officially contra-flow, but you'd never know it to see it in action- and that's just the other cyclists! Don't get me started on the pedestrians- though, to be fair, it's the nicest walking surface in the Docklands, so I can understand why people do it. At the west end of that cycle track, there's a convoluted chicane arrangement that takes you onto another contra-flow lane over the bridge east of the Custom House (Butt? Matt Talbot? I always get them mixed up...), but it can take forever to negotiate.

I'd say your best bet is Ringsend/Irishtown-Pearse-Tara, at least until the Sutton To Sandycove promenade materialises. I'm not holding my breath on that one for now...

D500B

cheers - that's not a bad way.

Regarding John Rogerson quay - what does contra flow mean? the traffic goes in two directions on that part of the quay.
Should you cycle upstream or downstream on the path? although I might just stick to the road I guess if cyclist are going to cycle both ways regardless.
Its annoying I love cycling the rock/merrion road but once I hit town the drivers become terrible and pull out all the time without looking - would love to be able to avoid the quays / pearse street area.

Doctor Bob

Strictly, a contra-flow cycle lane is one that runs against the flow of traffic on a one-way street; here, I used it because the lane effectively runs on the wrong side of the road. Cyclists are meant to go east-to-west (upstream), even though it's on the side where you'd normally expect a 'with flow' lane. I use it occasionally, but only when it's quiet, which is never during rush hour. And yet, the surface of the quays is so poxy...

The problem with finding a good route here is largely down to Trinity, and the one-way system in the south-east part of the city. Whatever route you take from D4 to D2, you eventually hit a barrier- Merrion Row/Ely Place, Lincoln Place, Sandwith Street, etc. A few actual contra-flow lanes on the one-way streets around here would be great- Nassau Street in particular. But that would entail the removal of lucrative on-street car parking...

You can probably tell I've given this subect some thought! I had a similar dilemma to yours when I last moved house and spent a fair while poring over the map.

You could try the north quays either- I'm pretty sure you can cycle east-west along the full stretch until the Custom House, but then it's either back to the south quays, through the IFSC via George's Dock, or get off and walk. And to get to the Point O2, you need to turn right at the church in Irishtown, pop through the gap in the wall at the end, and cross the ("Cyclists are requested to dismount") East Link Bridge. Again, hardly ideal.

Happy choosing.

Blowfish

Doctor Bob wrote: »

You could try the north quays either- I'm pretty sure you can cycle east-west along the full stretch until the Custom House, but then it's either back to the south quays, through the IFSC via George's Dock, or get off and walk. And to get to the Point O2, you need to turn right at the church in Irishtown, pop through the gap in the wall at the end, and cross the ("Cyclists are requested to dismount") East Link Bridge. Again, hardly ideal.

This is similar to the way I go (though I'm only heading to the IFSC). I find heading up the Strand Road is a much nicer cycle than going further inland. Usually you wouldn't have to stop at all between the railway crossing and the Sean Moore/Church Ave junction.

The bridge itself is fine, just like any other really. The Quay's from there up as far as the custom house are pretty wide, except for the 'mini' bridges and the traffic is generally far lighter than any of the other quay's.