Do you avoid using cycle lanes on footpaths?

alexanderomahon

I was riding up the Swords Road between Collins Avenue and Griffith Avenue today and I got a mouth full of abuse and a blast of the horn from a taxi driver. He was unhappy I was using the Bus lane and not the cycle path, which is on the footpath.

On checking the rules of the Road it says cyclists MUST use cycle paths if they are provided. I generally tend not to use cycle lanes that are on footpaths for a number of reasons.

For example

a) they often have small curbs going up and down from them and I'm concerned at skidding on these, as I did last week in the Pheonix Park. Did not go up on to it at 90 degrees.
2) Some end suddenly and it can be unclear where you should go at the end
3) The condition of the path surface, broken glass etc
4) concern at what pedestrians/dogs etc will do as they tend not to look behind them when changing position on the path.
5) I have to slow down

Do other people always use this type of cycle path?

cycletheroad

The trouble is that the people who make this decisions don't understand what you ve just said. A lot of cycle lanes/paths tend to end in the abyss anyway and tend to be cosmetic exercises depending where they put them. As for taxi drivers......they break more red lights then cyclists, particularly at night, they seem to think they have a different set of rules.

Chartsengrafs

I tend to use the cycle path on that particular stretch. The traffic tears along and taxi drivers do indeed go apes**t if you cycle on the bus lane. I find they give you very little space. Just not worth the hassle.
But do I always use this type of path? No. The path on the Glasnevin side of Drumcondra Road is particularly dangerous with people walking / straying onto it.

c0rk3r

Which direction were you cycling ? Towards Swords or into Town? The cycle lane on the left as your'e travelling to swords is fine and you should really be using it. On the other hand the cycling lane heading towards town is shocking, they want you to mount the path at speed, navigate the bus stop obstacle course whilst avoiding the pedestrians, then slow down again because your meeting an estate, then continue forward along the path which places you back onto the road as cars are turning left as you're going straight. Its insane and the taxi driver can rightly f-off

In general i'll only use cycle paths i deem safe. There are a lot of poorly designed lanes out there that shouldn't exist but do

Popoutman

I have yet to see a cycle path in Ireland that starts at A and ends at B without things like this:

• Yield signs for house or business entrances.
• Extreme mid-scale roughness that means having to slow to <15kph to pass over without the tyres leaving the surface.
• Very sharp turns that cannot be negotiated at any normal speed when parallelling footpaths near roundabouts.
• Broken glass that is not cleaned up more often than weekly.
• A lack of adequate marking or division to suggest to pedestrians (especially mothers with pushchairs) that the cycle path may have cyclists on it..
• An absence of high kerbs or significantly abrupt surface height changes.
• Poorly drained areas that have standing water.

I've been using my mtb on cycle lanes around Limerick for the past ~5 years and it's chronically bad with a lack of any coherent design or implementation. It appears that some people paint half of a footpath red and assume that this is enough to constitute a cycle path. It may do for a 3 year old on a kiddy bike with a parent walking nearby, but it doesn't cut it when trying to cycle at a normal 25kph. A very good example of deluded design would be the Corbally Link Road in Limerick City - it's just not possible to cycle a road bike at an appropriate speed on that cycle lane safely - I'll cycle on the road instead as it's not appropriate to be on the painted cycle lane segments (yields every few yards on the Park Road side) and keep the rights as a road user such as having right of way to traffic coming onto the road thank you very much...
Having said that, a lot of the cycle lanes around UL and Plassey are pretty good, with advance bike stop boxes and well marked road-quality cycle lanes. No problems with using those instead of being forced onto the road to safely progress.

Pherekydes

Almost never. The only cycle paths I use are the ones in the Phoenix Park, and even then it's only very early in the morning. Cyclists don't mix well with pedestrians.

Miklos

You should never have to cycle on anything that you feel is unsafe, I think.

rp

All bus lanes are, by law, cycle & bus lanes, which taxis may also use if they are on a job or going to a pick-up (but not otherwise - e.g., when for hire, with the light on). Also, many so-called 'cycle lanes' are not legally marked as such, so riding on them would be illegal (they are just pavements with a white bicycle painted on them).
So, chances are, your taxi driver was breaking the law, not you.

monument

alexanderomahon wrote: »

I was riding up the Swords Road between Collins Avenue and Griffith Avenue today and I got a mouth full of abuse and a blast of the horn from a taxi driver. He was unhappy I was using the Bus lane and not the cycle path, which is on the footpath.

On checking the rules of the Road it says cyclists MUST use cycle paths if they are provided. I generally tend not to use cycle lanes that are on footpaths for a number of reasons.

There's no mandatory cycle lane there.

This is due to change, but currently in the eyes of the law, there's actually no 'cycle track' (as defined by law) there at all, and, even if there was, there seems to be a choice between using a cycle lane and a bus lane.

greenmat

I never use that one or any cycle lanes on footpaths for all the different reasons stated above. It's just safer on the road. If i delay a driver by 1-2 mins so be it. Less problems on the road.

Wheely GR8

They should rename half of the cycles lanes ,tank lanes. At least if you used a tank you'd be safe.

cycletheroad

Wheely GR8 wrote: »

They should rename half of the cycles lanes ,tank lanes. At least if you used a tank you'd be safe.

Ha very good:D

rich.d.berry

If you were going in the direction from Collins Avenue to Griffiths Avenue then there is no cycle lane. There is one going in the opposite direction only.

The only cycle paths I use are those I choose to use. There are many roads with supposedly mandatory cycle lanes ie. solid white line rather than dotted, which are hopelessly inadequate or downright dangerous.

I am developing a thick skin and when hooted at I wave in a friendly way as if I've just been greeted. This is something I decided to do when I found myself getting upset because of idiots. I would leave home in a good mood and then allow someone else to change my mood. So now I'm in charge of my mood.

A little incident that happened to me just before Christmas by way of illustration. I was cycling on the Road between Milltown and Newbridge and approached a bend where overtaking was dangerous so I took primary position on the road. A car approached from behind, I could sense that the driver contemplated a blind overtake but then thought better of it. I must have held him up for perhaps 7 or 8 seconds while negotiating the bend and in that time 2 or 3 cars passed us in the opposite direction. There could well have been a close call if I had given him room to squeeze past.

When he got an opportunity to pass the passenger leaned out the window and shouted "You're in the f'ing middle of the road". Because of the heavy traffic volumes it wasn't long till I caught up to the car. I approached the passenger window, gave a knock and a friendly smile. The passenger looked quite shocked to see me, and a little nervous, because I'm no runt. He wound down the window a bit and I said, "Thanks, and Happy Christmas to you too."

The bewildered expression on his face was class. I could tell he wasn't sure whether I was being sarcastic and whether to say that he hadn't wished me a Happy Christmas or to act all friendly and to tell me that I'm welcome. As he was about to say something I spoke to the driver and said "Thanks for waiting back there. You've no idea how many drivers would just try and push past and put themselves and approaching traffic at risk, not to mention the risk to me."

I finished off by saying "I hope you don't get too caught up in this traffic. There's no better cure for congestion than a bicycle, you should try it sometime." Gave a tap on the roof, a friendly wave, a big grin and cycled on.

I don't know what their emotions were, but I know from experience that I left feeling way better than if I'd had an argument. I was on a high, feeling well pleased with myself knowing that I got one over on them, and maybe taught them something in the process, even if it was only that cyclists are nice people too. Had I argued it would most probably have ended badly with me cursing and muttering about "f'ing cagers"

Try it sometime. Make a conscious effort to be friendly and to ignore rudeness and aggression. You'll be surprised how good it makes you feel.

Darkglasses

Nicely put Rich!

monument

Good advice.

But there is a cycle lane painted on the footpath southbound -- starts about 220m north of Griffith Avenue, it's short and really crappy.

DePurpereWolf

there's a cycle path like this between cork and ballincollig, brand new. I avoid it like the plague.

cyclopath2001

alexanderomahon wrote: »

On checking the rules of the Road it says cyclists MUST use cycle paths if they are provided. I generally tend not to use cycle lanes that are on footpaths for a number of reasons.

This is true, but many of the so-called 'cycle tracks' do not conform with the relevant legislation as they're not prefixed with the correct sign (instead they use a non-regulation one showing pedestrians and cyclists) and they don't have separate areas for pedestrians and cyclists.

In short, many 'on-path' cycle lanes are an illegal sham and it's technically illegal to use them.

That, and the fact they were not designed for the needs of cyclists.

Jawgap

I know the path the OP is referring to and I use it - only because the lack of road space there makes it, in my opinion the safe option.

In saying that, there's no line there and about 2 years ago I was stopped by a copper who told me I shouldn't be cycling on the path!! In fairness, it was dark and when I told him it was a cycle lane he looked at me with some incredulity before taking out his torch to look for the presence of the remainder of the line - he thought when the line went it ceased to be a cycle lane.

Anyway, he apologised and we both had a bit of a laugh about it.

There are other cycle tracks similar to the Swords Road one that I don't use, for example

• Southbound on the Swords Road near Whitehall Garda Station because it's too short and the turn on to it is too severe
• Southbound in front of the Archbishop's palace - full of leaf mulch and other garbage just waiting to cause a spill
• Fairview Park in autumn and early winter - leaf mulch

In general, if I don't consider it safe, I won't use it.

petethedrummer

Only this morning I had to point out to a taxi driver that I was allowed cycle on that exact stretch of road.

Iwannahurl

Where I live I usually avoid these "cycle paths" as they usually have no meaning in life.

However, for some reason I keep coming back to threads about such 'facilities'...