Worst places to cycle in Dublin

Tenzor07

Great survey by the Dublin cycling campaign highlighting the complete lack of proper cycle infrastructure around the city center:

http://dublincycling.ie/10worst

Zyzz

They could har saved a lot of time and just said the whole of Dublin..

Ole Rodrigo

A short paragraph on the nice places to cycle would have done the trick.

detones

This junction at Blakes cross has to be up there. Fu@&in disgrace. Trying to merge with cars coming from Lusk doing 60 to 100+k is scary. It's about as much fun as a roll in the hay with your sister.

Beasty

detones wrote: »

This junction at Blakes cross has to be up there. Fu@&in disgrace. Trying to merge with cars coming from Lusk doing 60 to 100+k is scary. It's about as much fun as a roll in the hay with your sister.

I think I've said this before, but some of the money spent on the cycling facilities at Lissenhall roundabout would have been much better invested at Blakes X. You certainly need you wits about you trying to navigate it from the north. I've actually seen the odd cyclist try and stay in the outside lane rather than cut back to the inside, which is even more hairy with vehicles potentially overtaking on both sides. Having said that, with confidence and experience (and a lot of looking over your left shoulder) you can generally get across reasonably quickly

detones

Beasty wrote: »

I think I've said this before, but some of the money spent on the cycling facilities at Lissenhall roundabout would have been much better invested at Blakes X. You certainly need you wits about you trying to navigate it from the north. I've actually seen the odd cyclist try and stay in the outside lane rather than cut back to the inside, which is even more hairy with vehicles potentially overtaking on both sides. Having said that, with confidence and experience (and a lot of looking over your left shoulder) you can generally get across reasonably quickly

That’s true, having used it quite regularly now I have become a little bit more comfortable with it. As I approach the merging traffic I tend to stick my arm out and slowly move it back and forth to ensure I catch drivers attention. Keep checking over my shoulder to make sure they are slowing, then move across, when drivers pass give them a little wave of acknowledgement. Find this works well and helps diffuse any potential grumpy motorists. It’s still a pig of a junction though.

Seaswimmer

Zyzz wrote: »

They could har saved a lot of time and just said the whole of Dublin..

I disagree. I find my commute across town quite pleasant. I dont go through city centre so none of those blackspots are on my route. Most of my road surfaces are good and the vast majority of motorists are ok. I drove to work one day last week for the first time in about 2 years and I was never so glad to get back on my bike the next day.

I agree with ror_74. Concentrate on the positives and stop constantly highlighting the negative aspects.

Tenzor07

Seaswimmer wrote: »

I agree with ror_74. Concentrate on the positives and stop constantly highlighting the negative aspects.

Purpose of this survey of worst places to cycle is to highlight.....the worst places to cycle in Dublin! Fair play to you, you're route doesn't go near these spots, but what about the people who do use these routes?

Should we just say "Ah sure it's grand" and accept non-existent/hazardous cycling infrastructure in the city?

Stollaire

Worst place to cycle?

From the start of the North Strand Road all the way onto City Quay by the Seán O'Casey Bridge.
Hands down the worst and probably the busiest cycle route in the city.

Seaswimmer

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Purpose of this survey of worst places to cycle is to highlight.....the worst places to cycle in Dublin! Fair play to you, you're route doesn't go near these spots, but what about the people who do use these routes?

Should we just say "Ah sure it's grand" and accept non-existent/hazardous cycling infrastructure in the city?

No. But in highlighting the positives we may get more people onto bikes and by extension then the facilities will improve. If I was a potential cyclist reading and listening to the debate about the dangers, hazards and hassle of commuting by bike I would never venture onto the road.

What we need is some balance. We should be telling people about the health benefits, the economic benefits, the quicker travel times and the relatively cheap cost of cycling. And lots of pictures of attractive people in normal clothes using bikes!!

Tenzor07

True, but the guys at the Dublin cycle campaign have a purpose in highlighting the hazards around town, these are the places were potentially serious accidents could occur and have occurred... Can't stick the head into the sand on these issues... Besides, the benefits are also highlighted...

Maybe check out there page and see what it's all about?

facebook.com/dublincycling

mitosis

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Great survey by the Dublin cycling campaign highlighting the complete lack of proper cycle infrastructure around the city center:

http://dublincycling.ie/10worst

It's a bunch of pissy-pants, to be honest. This one is hilarious

SCR near IMMA

Gaps in cycle lane

Repaint cycle lane

About a metre of painted line makes this one of the worst places to cycle.

Grudaire

It's really the worst 30 - not the worst ten!

To be honest some of the spots do need highlighting - so fair play to the DCC for doing it.

beauf

Kinda of a odd collection of locations. Some of it is just regular stuff you get everywhere and major issues like the south quays isn't on it at all.

Chips Lovell

mitosis wrote: »

It's a bunch of pissy-pants, to be honest. This one is hilarious

SCR near IMMA

Gaps in cycle lane

Repaint cycle lane

About a metre of painted line makes this one of the worst places to cycle.

That's bizarre. That road is in absolute bits and its the section of missing line that they highlight?

LennoxR

A bit over dramatic for me.

We have now a lot of cycle lanes in Dublin and despite what some people say, a painted one on the road is usually the best - all the advantage of the road - surface, right of way but cars give you space. Only complaint here is that crappy red stuff they sometimes surface them with, which ruins the surface.

The off-road ones they built on pavements about 15 years ago are in fairness very poor in general but the latest ones - like the one being built on Braemor Road in Churchtown are actually very good. So is the Grand Canal path as a whole. As is the Howth one.

It's way over the top to say there's a complete lack of cycling infrastructure in Dublin. Go to Galway where I lived for a while. Now that's a city with no cycling infrastructure. The locals are also in my experience much less tolerant of cyclists there.

ibebanging

Worst part of my commute is the cycle path through the N81 M50 junction. Full of glass and debris.

Tenzor07

LennoxR wrote: »

A bit over dramatic for me.
It's way over the top to say there's a complete lack of cycling infrastructure in Dublin.

Have a look at cycling in other European cities and then tell me how good the cycle infrastructure in the capital is:

We're basically where they were in the 1960's

LennoxR

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Have a look at cycling in other European cities and then tell me how good the cycle infrastructure in the capital is:

We're basically where they were in the 1960's

Yes we're worse off than the likes of Copenhagen and Amsterdam but they're the exceptions.

We're much better off than the likes of Madrid or Rome. Or any other Irish city.

billyhead

detones wrote: »

This junction at Blakes cross has to be up there. Fu@&in disgrace. Trying to merge with cars coming from Lusk doing 60 to 100+k is scary. It's about as much fun as a roll in the hay with your sister.

Agree with this junction been dangerous. Its bloody hairy when your turning right at blakes cross heading up the Lusk Road as cars can sometimes cut right across you at some speed.

Jawgap

Worst is a relative term - there will always be areas that are worse than others.

Generally, I think Dublin is a pretty good city to cycle in - despite what the Copenhagenize Index suggests, it's not in the top 10 in Europe (not even in the top 10 in Britain & Ireland, imo) but it's not a bad or dangerous place to cycle in.

The only part of the city I don't really like cycling in are the South Quays, but aside from that I think the rest of the city is fine. Any of the problems that do arise tend to stem from other road user behaviour and I'm not sure improvements in infrastructure would cure most of the idiots of their worst impulses.

Blake's Cross is not great, I'll agree - I don't why they haven't at least replaced that junction with a roundabout before now. I'd say that junction alone deters a lot of would be cycle commuters from Skerries, Rush and Lusk.

Rambling Man

detones wrote: »

This junction at Blakes cross has to be up there. Fu@&in disgrace. Trying to merge with cars coming from Lusk doing 60 to 100+k is scary. It's about as much fun as a roll in the hay with your sister.

Quite true. I've bottled several times in heavy traffic and just laid up at the traffic island till there's nothing coming from Lusk. It's like surrendering a right-of-way.

chughes

From Lissenhall junction at the M1 to Donabate along the Hearse Road is also a bad road to cycle. The road is about 2 miles long and should be a pleasant rural route but the volume of traffic along this road coupled with its lack of width means that a cyclist can hold up a line of traffic pretty quickly.

Donabate would be a nice cycle into the city, distance-wise, if the aptly named Hearse Road wasn't such a dangerous road for cyclists.

Beasty

chughes wrote: »

From Lissenhall junction at the M1 to Donabate along the Hearse Road is also a bad road to cycle. The road is about 2 miles long and should be a pleasant rural route but the volume of traffic along this road coupled with its lack of width means that a cyclist can hold up a line of traffic pretty quickly.

Donabate would be a nice cycle into the city, distance-wise, if the aptly named Hearse Road wasn't such a dangerous road for cyclists.

I've taken to extending my commute along that road, and tbh I have found absolutely no problems with it. The road has a full 2 lanes with plenty of room for passing - there are plenty of other narrower roads in the vicinity where there is a lot less room to get past

bcmf

Beasty wrote: »

I think I've said this before, but some of the money spent on the cycling facilities at Lissenhall roundabout would have been much better invested at Blakes X. You certainly need you wits about you trying to navigate it from the north. I've actually seen the odd cyclist try and stay in the outside lane rather than cut back to the inside, which is even more hairy with vehicles potentially overtaking on both sides. Having said that, with confidence and experience (and a lot of looking over your left shoulder) you can generally get across reasonably quickly

Some of us didn't even get a chance to try and change lanes before we were 'attacked'.
Really dread the day I have to cycle back down there.

Beasty

bcmf wrote: »

Some of us didn't even get a chance to try and change lanes before we were 'attacked'.
Really dread the day I have to cycle back down there.

Part of the lunacy with that junction is the insistence of some drivers turning onto the R132 SB moving immediately into the overtaking lane for no good reason. If you get caught with vehicles swinging out like that you really can be in trouble

bcmf

Beasty wrote: »

Part of the lunacy with that junction is the insistence of some drivers turning onto the R132 SB moving immediately into the overtaking lane for no good reason. If you get caught with vehicles swinging out like that you really can be in trouble

yeah.I don't really see why anyone coming from Lusk direction needs to try and change lanes as there are 2 roundabouts only a few metres up the road if you need to get across.
Really wonder is there anything/anyone in Fingal CC who is willing to do anything with.
With local elections coming lets see!

DaithiMC

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Have a look at cycling in other European cities and then tell me how good the cycle infrastructure in the capital is:

We're basically where they were in the 1960's

Its always interesting to make such subjective comparisons but what if we took a look at some numbers in the context of, say, fatalities for cyclists. This link makes interesting reading:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/pdf/statistics/dacota/bfs2010_dacota-swov-1-3-cyclists.pdf

Page 2 comparison of Denmark with Ireland 2007 and 2009: Number of fatalities Denmark 54, 54, number of fatalitis Ireland 15, 13. Now before we say there are more people cycling in Denmark, lets normalise the data to deaths per million (bearing in mind the populations of both countries are similar): Number of fatalities per million Denmark 9.9, 9.9, Number of fatalities Ireland 3.5, 3.0.

Now I am not saying this is an argument for maintaining shoddy infrastructure but it is one to suggest that just because you have what is espoused as one of the best infrastructures, that does not automatically confer a safe environment.

I would tend to agree that well maintained painted on-road cycle lanes give better cycling experience than some of the painted on-footpath cycle lanes where you have to go up and down based on the frequency of drive ways. I think the new lane in Churchtown shows the way but it is not practical in every environment.

PS: I'm surprised Beaver Row didn't make the top ten in any of the lists - sh!ttiest surface, narrowest street, blocked by on-street parking to all road users, inefficient speed ramps and generally a pig of a road to cycle up when it is busy at all.

tomasrojo

Daithi, if I may be so familiar, the usual method of comparison is not deaths per million inhabitants, but deaths per 100 million km travelled (or billion km travelled). That metric makes Denmark safer, though not enormously so, if I recall correctly. But set against that, they have far more children and elderly cycling and even with a much higher number of vulnerable road users, they still have a better death and injury rate per 100 million km travelled. So they are doing substantially better, I would say, for whatever reason.

DaithiMC

tomasrojo wrote: »

Daithi, if I may be so familiar, the usual method of comparison is not deaths per million inhabitants, but deaths per 100 million km travelled (or billion km travelled). That metric makes Denmark safer, though not enormously so, if I recall correctly. But set against that, they have far more children and elderly cycling and even with a much higher number of vulnerable road users, they still have a better death and injury rate per 100 million km travelled. So they are doing substantially better, I would say, for whatever reason.

No problem with familiarity, I do like it when the full picture can be filled out by others' knowledge. On the topic specifically, I think it is difficult to measure things like "safety" with one metric and in that link they seem to have sliced and diced the information in multiple ways to give multiple insights. I think the metric with you say is usual should be added to the mix but not cited alone as it has its limitations too as it can only ever be an estimate from a poll of some sort. The number of fatalities and their causes are on official record so are a much harder metric in my opinion....but when did politicians ever use such hard metrics.....?

I guess it doesn't really matter how we measure it to the 108 people who died in Denmark or the 28 who died in Ireland in the two years I referenced.

Wishbone Ash

The route from Memorial Road via Matt Talbot bridge onto George's Quay requires full alertness. The cycle lanes on the approach (on Memorial Road) are totally unhelpful. The bridge has four lanes (all one way) and a cyclist needs to be on the 2nd lane from the right to safely access George's Quay (both right lanes may be used for the right turn). Stay on the rightmost lane and you end up on the wrong side on the quays. Many motorists crossing the bridge don't seem to appreciate this difficulty for cyclists and I've encountered a few of the "I'll teach him a lesson" types.

chughes wrote: »

From Lissenhall junction at the M1 to Donabate along the Hearse Road is also a bad road to cycle. The road is about 2 miles long and should be a pleasant rural route but the volume of traffic along this road coupled with its lack of width means that a cyclist can hold up a line of traffic pretty quickly.

Donabate would be a nice cycle into the city, distance-wise, if the aptly named Hearse Road wasn't such a dangerous road for cyclists.

I cycle that route regularly and it's fine. The surface is good too (apart from that one depression southbound several hundred metres below the filling station).

Beasty wrote: »

Part of the lunacy with that junction is the insistence of some drivers turning onto the R132 SB moving immediately into the overtaking lane for no good reason. If you get caught with vehicles swinging out like that you really can be in trouble

That also poses danger for cyclists coming from Lusk/Rush after having made the turn as following motorists are too focused on their mirrors concentrating on moving across to the right lane that they sometimes fail to notice that they have caught up with a cyclist in front of them.

Jabel

Capel Street, Dublin.
Road is fine but dangerous with cars parked both sides
and pedestrians seemingly unaware that cyclists are
free to pass by cars stopped in traffic.
I do get to shout 'WATCH' quite a lot to many a bemused look!
Christmas is coming though, will be worse than ever...

shroom007

Trying to get from North King st to Capel st and on into town. you can use the back roads around Halson St but the road is appaling and the fruit market is busy with forklifts and deliveries.bloody nightmare
Or just trying to get to the Northside from Dame St, Parliament St area that whole one way system thats means only Jervis St is North bound.So its always over Millinium Bridge through Little italy or a quick dash against the traffic on to Jervis, If you did by the book you end up on O'Connell Bridge.A 17 Carot pain in the arse