Parking at Scoil Carmel - Firhouse

DubTony

Both my kids are in Scoil Carmel on Firhouse Road. There have been issues with people parking in the bus lane and inside the pedestrian barriers directly outside the school. So much so that the Gardai have started ticketing cars. I generally park in the cycle lane down near the Carmelite Monastery, and have been told by 2 different Gardai that they don't ticket cars there (just those outside the school, in the bus lane and at the bus stop)
Today when I came out there was a female cop (reminded me of your one from Game of Thrones - about 7 feet tall) and she was taking the numbers of everything she could see, including those in the cycle lane. I didn't talk to her as she was busy taking abuse from the guy who'd parked at the bus stop.
I'm curious. Has anyone here been done for parking in that cycle lane outside the convent?

Map

schemingbohemia

Why would you park in a cycle lane? It's for cyclists.

DubTony

Yeah, it's not ideal, but parking there has been standard practice there since the cycle lane was put in. If you look at the map you can see that the cycle lane is as wide as a traffic lane.
It's either park there or end up blocking up the local estates.

ted1

In my day kids walked to school...

Tabnabs

Looking at streetview, it looks like the cycle path is on a level above the road and alongside the path? (and you have to go up on the kerb to park?)

http://goo.gl/maps/jVA5u

At a time when people are encouraging children to walk/cycle etc. it's probably a more responsible attitude to park in the housing estates and cross at the lights to drop your kid(s) off at school.

DubTony

ted1 wrote:

In my day kids walked to school...

So did I, but when I was 5 I didn't have a 35 minute walk. 2 busy roads and ... FFS why am I explaining myself?

Tabnabs wrote: »

Looking at streetview, it looks like the cycle path is on a level above the road and alongside the path? (and you have to go up on the kerb to park?)

http://goo.gl/maps/jVA5u

At a time when people are encouraging children to walk/cycle etc. it's probably a more responsible attitude to park in the housing estates and cross at the lights to drop your kid(s) off at school.

Yeah, that's right. It is up on the kerb so is far from ideal. The estate across from the school gets jammed in the mornings and afternoons, so much so that it becomes very difficult to get in and out of; and the standard of parking and driving makes it bloody dangerous.

I take your point though.

RainyDay

DubTony wrote: »

FFS why am I explaining myself?

Perhaps because you're breaking the law and endangering cyclists?

homer911

We should be encouraging kids to cycle to school, not be parking in the cycle lanes put in for their safety

RainyDay

Tomanjam wrote: »

I used to park on the very same Cycle lane well back down the road from the school. Its the size of the average car lane in parts, if not bigger and I would always ensure I leave lots of space for cyclists to pass.

When a car parks in an average car lane, there isn't enough room for cyclists to pass.

Tomanjam wrote: »

If I could possibly walk or cycle I would but its not logistically possible as I have several drop offs to do.

I'm not sure why having several drop offs makes walking or cycling impossible?

Tabnabs

I had the "pleasure" of passing the school earlier in the week at 9am. The place was chock full of cars dropping kids off. It must be a nightmare for the local residents especially that little side road adjacent to the school.

What stuck me as equally shocking is there are two car parks, both within 400m of the school gates, and both car parks were quite empty. If you lived that close, you'd think nothing of walking the distance, along with the added safety of getting your kids safely in and out, not to mention not having to manoeuvre beside a main road already teeming with kids...

Parents are making a rod to beat themselves with IMHO.

Ell30

Eh hello as a cyclist it makes me mad when people think its "ok " to park in a cycle lane -it's not, and its illegal,I regularly cycle by there at school drop off/pick up times and not only have you got the cars parked there but then the doors of the cars open as you go around them and nearly knock you off !! I'll be getting on to Gardai every time I cycle down there and cycle lane is blocked with cars till they do something about it.