Royal Canal on a Road Bike

mloc123

Carawaystick wrote: »

I thought from Deey Bridge west it was stony gravel to Pike bridge?
Its grass back to almost Clonsilla after the Dunboyne line railway

There is 1km of mud from Deey Bridge on, it turns to gravel about 500m before Carton

Mercian Pro

mloc123 wrote: »

There is 1km of mud from Deey Bridge on, it turns to gravel about 500m before Carton

That's what I thought. Why the **** could they not just do it all in one contract?

mloc123

Mercian Pro wrote: »

That's what I thought. Why the **** could they not just do it all in one contract?

I am optimistic they will...

mloc123

Not looking good, they have closed the canal from Intel back towards Confey but no sign of anything in the other direction

Mercian Pro

mloc123 wrote: »

I am optimistic they will...

mloc123 wrote: »

Not looking good, they have closed the canal from Intel back towards Confey but no sign of anything in the other direction

I had thought from your first comment that you had insider information but it doesn't look that way now!

I have just messaged Waterways Ireland about and will update here if and when I hear from them. It would be crazy for them to have to tender the last short bit separately when they now have a similar contract in place.

mloc123

Mercian Pro wrote: »

I had thought from your first comment that you had insider information but it doesn't look that way now!

I have just messaged Waterways Ireland about and will update here if and when I hear from them. It would be crazy for them to have to tender the last short bit separately when they now have a similar contract in place.

No inside information... just foolish optimism.

The worst part of it is, the section from Confey to Intel was very easy to cycle already.

Carawaystick

mloc123 wrote: »

No inside information... just foolish optimism.

The worst part of it is, the section from Confey to Intel was very easy to cycle already.

Yeah, intel east is much better than intel west...

Are they widening the entrances to let buggies or cargo bikes on?

mloc123

Carawaystick wrote: »

Yeah, intel east is much better than intel west...

Are they widening the entrances to let buggies or cargo bikes on?

Not sure on that, I can just manage to get a Bullit with canopy through the current opening.

The other sections that they have done do follow a standard design of having two staggered wooden gates that are easier to get through.

Mercian Pro

mloc123 wrote: »

Not sure on that, I can just manage to get a Bullit with canopy through the current opening.

The other sections that they have done do follow a standard design of having two staggered wooden gates that are easier to get through.

Mercian Pro

The Dublin Cycling Campaign has posted on FB that work has (finally) started on the Sheriff Street to North Strand section or Phase 2 as Dublin City Council call it.

More details at https://irishcycle.com/2019/02/04/work-starts-on-royal-canal-greenway-beside-dublin-docklands/?fbclid=IwAR2z4BjFGka-rVtiwCgc8UA8sySNUXOxUeuBYhCRhTSijs5pQncl-pVRQ8I

Fighting Tao

Mercian Pro wrote: »

The Dublin Cycling Campaign has posted on FB that work has (finally) started on the Sheriff Street to North Strand section or Phase 2 as Dublin City Council call it.

I meant to post here earlier. It started a couple of weeks ago. It’s whwre the locals light their bonfires so I expect patches of tarmac to be burned midsummer and at Halloween.

Mercian Pro

Mercian Pro wrote: »

I have just messaged Waterways Ireland about and will update here if and when I hear from them. It would be crazy for them to have to tender the last short bit separately when they now have a similar contract in place.

Waterways Ireland got back to me to say that the section from Deey Bridge to Maynooth will be upgraded "in the near future" but not as part of the current contract.

Mercian Pro

An "emerging preferred route" has been identified by the consultants working on the 12th lock to the Kildare border section. This is to go on display in the Civic Offices in Blanchardstown from 25 February until 22 March. The project team will be present on 5 March to answer questions and explain the scheme. Submissions can be made up to 22 March.

Should be worth a visit for anyone interested in cycling or walking this section. How they propose to deal with the Deep Sinking will be particularly interesting. No mention yet as to whether all the info will be available on-line as well.

wildlifeboy

when are they doing coolmine to porterstown?

Mercian Pro

wildlifeboy wrote: »

when are they doing coolmine to porterstown?

That's part of the section from the 12th Lock to near Leixlip that is going on public display in five days time. The drawings are already available at https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/royal-canal-urban-greenway-public-engagement?fbclid=IwAR3zDdF4TibO-5HwGoE6Y26rvvu1OLw8De4XT8B8IjW-TATZV1_23qWh9WI

The last word I think on timing was design work to continue through 2019 with planning permission in 2020 followed presumably by construction later that year.

cdaly_

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Should be worth a visit for anyone interested in cycling or walking this section. How they propose to deal with the Deep Sinking will be particularly interesting. No mention yet as to whether all the info will be available on-line as well.

Looks like the Deep Sinking is left alone with the greenway diverting north of the canal west of Castleknock station and reconnecting with the existing track on the north side east of Clonsilla. Probably the best thing to do as to construct anything rideable on the south bank would disrupt it significantly.

Mercian Pro

cdaly_ wrote: »

Looks like the Deep Sinking is left alone with the greenway diverting north of the canal west of Castleknock station and reconnecting with the existing track on the north side east of Clonsilla. Probably the best thing to do as to construct anything rideable on the south bank would disrupt it significantly.

Yes, a 2012 report by Atkins proposed a cantilevered path on the south bank but there were a lot of problems with it. Another of their options was a diversion through housing estates! The new proposal makes a lot more sense and will hopefully be adopted.

wildlifeboy

i am very happy with that proposal, it'll be brilliant

wildlifeboy

theyre going behind delwood and roselawn when the other side between coolmine and castleknock is pretty fine, very strange.

schemingbohemia

wildlifeboy wrote: »

theyre going behind delwood and roselawn when the other side between coolmine and castleknock is pretty fine, very strange.

From the drawings the towpath on the south side isn't wide enough (4m) and the hill beside it (between the towpath and railway line) seems to present engineering difficulties in building it wider so it seems sensible to go on the north side.

wildlifeboy

my delwood friends arent happy about it

Mercian Pro

wildlifeboy wrote: »

my delwood friends arent happy about it

All the more reason for cyclists to make submissions supporting it. It doesn't take much in Ireland for politicians to oppose something once there's a hint of local opposition. Cyclists in Fingal should let their Councillors (and would-be Councillors) know that they support this and other investments in cycling when they come looking for votes later in the year.

magicbastarder

wildlifeboy wrote: »

my delwood friends arent happy about it

there's a public information session about it today, my father is heading along.
i had assumed it'd be on the castleknock side of the canal, but apparently not, which makes a bit more sense.
some of our old neighbours won't be madly happy, and my mother was saying there are rumours their cul de sac will be used for access for construction traffic, but i bet there's a lot of fog of war and some rumours will hopefully be cleared up or quashed.

she was saying there's broad support for it in the area though.

Mercian Pro

magicbastarder wrote: »

there's a meeting about it today, my father is heading along.
.....she was saying there's broad support for it in the area though.

If there is broad support, it certainly wasn't evident at the information session in Blanchardstown this morning. I'd say I was probably the only one supporting the proposals out of the 30+ people there. Overlooking of back gardens, increased crime and vandalism, noise, dirt and disruption during construction and "why can't it go on the south bank?" The only Councillor present seemed happy to stir things up no doubt with an eye on potential votes in the local elections.

Even if this scheme gets the go ahead, it will still probably be the last section of the 147km Greenway to be completed. Unless the local opposition is countered, it could end up being two Greenways - Dublin to Castleknock and Porterstown to Cloondara! Make your views known at https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/royal-canal-urban-greenway-public-engagement

magicbastarder

Mercian Pro wrote: »

If there is broad support, it certainly wasn't evident at the information session in Blanchardstown this morning.

i suspect nay-sayers are more likely to attend these things than supporters.

plus, i know from some neighbour's experience that it's more difficult for supporters to say to a nay-sayer that they disagree politely, than the converse.

from what i understand, a lot of the gardens along the canal there have what i think is called a 'garden lease' for land that's not theirs, but i strongly suspect many will consider those gardens to be rightfully theirs.

magicbastarder

from talking to my folks again, it seems that the objections (well, the ones they thought to mention or have heard) boil largely down to permeability. the plan would be that any cul de sac along that stretch would have pedestrian access at the end to get onto the greenway. so that introduces the following concerns:
- parking; delwood green is within a 5 minute walk of coolmine railway station and already has to deal with a lot of park and ride parking (why would you pay ~€5 a day to park in the station car park when you can park a 5 minute walk away); but this would make it easier to park in other parts of the estate and walk to the station.
- (inevitably), crime - miscreants could evade the rozzers by escaping onto the greenway. there were several laneways closed in the estate many years ago due to 'antisocial' behaviour, so you're going to inevitably get the 'we're all going to be burgled' response.
- disruption from the construction phase; doesn't seem to be that big a concern, to be fair.
- the houses on delwood green which back onto the canal have been used to having nothing behind them except the canal since the 70s, and will now have a decent amount of traffic passing by. those residents will undoubtedly have objections.

i suspect there's going to be a 'why do all the cul de sacs need access onto the greenway' question raised, and i suspect the obvious answer would be so that no one cul de sac can claim to be taking the brunt of it.

my mother certainly seems positive about it, she likes the idea of being able to walk along the canal for about half her walk to mass.

Mercian Pro

magicbastarder wrote: »

from talking to my folks again, it seems that the objections (well, the ones they thought to mention or have heard) boil largely down to permeability. the plan would be that any cul de sac along that stretch would have pedestrian access at the end to get onto the greenway ......
i suspect there's going to be a 'why do all the cul de sacs need access onto the greenway' question raised, and i suspect the obvious answer would be so that no one cul de sac can claim to be taking the brunt of it.

This sounds very like what happened at the section currently under construction between Sheriff Street and the North Strand. Residents on the some of the streets nearby objected to proposed links onto the Greenway. DCC agreed to omit the links for now but to review it again after a year or two of use. Were this to happen at Delwood, the main losers would be residents like your mother who want to use the Greenway. There is probably an argument too that increased permeability will lead to increased surveillance and less antisocial behaviour but I didn't feel like raising that yesterday with the locals ��

On the issue of parking by users of the station, the best solution as we found in Drumcondra, is permit parking.

magicbastarder

i suspect the very concept of permit parking has not made it out to fingal yet, and i can imagine the howls of outrage from the residents - the 'do i need permission to park outside my own house?' ones (this is not to say i have sympathy for such a reaction).

the main problem is that those like my parents who would be broadly welcoming are maybe not going to stand up in front of neighbours who would claim to be more directly affected, and support it, when it could result in a worsening in neighbourly relations. i've seen similar where i live, where there was a kinda neighbourhood committee formed to object to metro north. i avoided the meetings like a hot snot, i think the metro is sorely needed.

Effects

Most of the houses affected seem to have driveways as well so parking permits might affect them differently than the likes of Drumcondra, where it's mainly on street parking.

Red Soup

mloc123 wrote: »

Not looking good, they have closed the canal from Intel back towards Confey but no sign of anything in the other direction

Any updates on this? Is it still closed? Planning on cycling Dublin to Mullingar at the start of April