Cycle lane

shutup

I understand Cyclists in Ireland are not legally obliged to use a cycling lane where one is provided.
However, in the interest of understanding for New cyclists and all other road users who may not have any experience cycling could you give some explanation and reasons why you would not use a cycling lane.

DelBoy Trotter

The cycle lane could be in terrible condition

Some cycle lanes have poles in the middle of them :rolleyes:

Cycle lanes can be full of grit/stones/glass as traffic pushes all that sort of crap to the left of the driving lane

Some cycle lanes have drains and man hole covers in them, which aren’t particularly safe when dry, but can be like glass when wet

Pedestrians/children/dogs walking on or stepping into the cycle lane without looking (mainly when they are the same height as the footpath)

If it’s a raised cycle lane (same height as the footpath), it makes it a lot harder to take a right turn as you have to come off the curb

Some cycle lanes have terrible designs. The cycle lane could end and it will spit you out onto the road at a right angle, which basically means stopping dead if there is any traffic coming before you can join the road, so it’s easier to stay on the road in the first place

Some drivers see the cycle lane marking as some invisible wall between them and the cyclist, so don’t bother giving the proper distance between them and the cyclist

AndrewJRenko

Here's 25 reasons

https://irishcycle.com/2015/11/05/images-25-reasons-why-cyclists-dont-use-cycle-lanesy

Here's a few thousand reasons

https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeTheCycleLanes?s=09

Wishbone Ash

They are designed by non cycling motorists and most are just a 'tick box' exercise. Can you imagine the controversy if non-motoring cyclists designed roads. That whinger Faughnan would be on every radio talk show.

Get a bike and try for yourself and you'll wonder why anyone uses them.

shutup

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

The cycle lane could be in terrible condition

Some cycle lanes have poles in the middle of them :rolleyes:

Cycle lanes can be full of grit/stones/glass as traffic pushes all that sort of crap to the left of the driving lane

Some cycle lanes have drains and man hole covers in them, which aren’t particularly safe when dry, but can be like glass when wet

Pedestrians/children/dogs walking on or stepping into the cycle lane without looking (mainly when they are the same height as the footpath)

If it’s a raised cycle lane (same height as the footpath), it makes it a lot harder to take a right turn as you have to come off the curb

Some cycle lanes have terrible designs. The cycle lane could end and it will spit you out onto the road at a right angle, which basically means stopping dead if there is any traffic coming before you can join the road, so it’s easier to stay on the road in the first place

Some drivers see the cycle lane marking as some invisible wall between them and the cyclist, so don’t bother giving the proper distance between them and the cyclist

Great answer. I think it would be really helpful for non cycling motorists to read that.
Thanks

shutup

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

They are designed by non cycling motorists and most are just a 'tick box' exercise. Can you imagine the controversy if non-motoring cyclists designed roads. That whinger Faughnan would be on every radio talk show.

Get a bike and try for yourself and you'll wonder why anyone uses them.

I have three bikes. I did about 30km with you a few years ago on the boards charity cycle.

Tenzor07

shutup wrote: »

I understand Cyclists in Ireland are not legally obliged to use a cycling lane where one is provided.
However, in the interest of understanding for New cyclists and all other road users who may not have any experience cycling could you give some explanation and reasons why you would not use a cycling lane.

Hey, the state spends €Billions on Motorways for Motorcars, why don't they use them all the time instead of taking space in the city??

Wishbone Ash

shutup wrote: »

I have three bikes. I did about 30km with you a few years ago on the boards charity cycle.

I thought the username rang a bell alright!

shutup

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Hey, the state spends €Billions on Motorways for Motorcars, why don't they use them all the time instead of taking space in the city??

So you don’t use a cycle lane because the state spends billions on motorways etc ?
Seems you felt I was attacking cyclists and you dove in defence.
I’m not trying to start an argument about cyclist versus motorists. Quite the opposite. I’m trying to let people know why cyclists don’t use them.
I am a cyclist and I’d love to see more bikes in the road.
Although I was very put out by a cyclists behaviour on the drumartin link road on Friday and I am wondering why he was in traffic like a mad man goading people into arguments instead of being up on a great stretch of cycle lane.

shutup

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I thought the username rang a bell alright!

Was a great day. The echelon from glencree was intense.

RacoonQueen

There is often no 'flow' to get onto them, you may have to stop, leave the road and dismount to enter it and then it may bring you on a very indirect route.
Can be hard to turn right from them especially if they are ones like the above...you can end up effectively losing right of way at junctions i.e you are stuck at bike/pedestrian lights waiting to go straight but if you'd remained on the road you'd have already been able to go straight.
Some drivers thing they include a magical forcefield
It makes some drivers forget that cyclists are there and a cyclist may have right of way to continue straight while a driver may pull right across them to turn left because they don't even see them/consider that there is another lane carrying traffic to their left

One major issue for me is that they are often designed just to get cyclists out of the way of motor vehicles and not thought through properly.

duffmann

Difficult when cars are parked on the cycle lane

Pinch Flat

Was out for a solo spin earlier. Took me up around balrothery and swords. Some nice new cycle lanes there. I chose to use these as the road is narrow with lots of speeding motorists. As I got nearer home I decided to use the cycle lane at the airport near st Margarets, not bad, but dumps you back on a narrow road abruptly near the timer yard. Theres also no easy way on to it. I would have to stop on a busy roundabout/ road and bunny hop a kerb. So I joined half way a longer where there is an entrance to a farmers field. Further on i jumped on the cycle lanes around ballycoolin. Not bad but you have to yield every where a road crosses, including the garage along the way. This reinforces in motorists minds that they have priority which in reality it should be the opposite - giving way to the more vulnerable road users. But hey that's Ireland and it's car culture. Further towards blanch shopping centre, the cycle lane actually takes you left - no space to cross at the roundabout and go straight on Again presumably to facilitate motor traffic. I was a bit meh about them. There's very little joined up thinking when they're built and certainly not built with cyclists welfare front and foremost.

Tenzor07

shutup wrote: »

So you don’t use a cycle lane because the state spends billions on motorways etc ?
Seems you felt I was attacking cyclists and you dove in defence.
I’m not trying to start an argument about cyclist versus motorists. Quite the opposite. I’m trying to let people know why cyclists don’t use them.
I am a cyclist and I’d love to see more bikes in the road.
Although I was very put out by a cyclists behaviour on the drumartin link road on Friday and I am wondering why he was in traffic like a mad man goading people into arguments instead of being up on a great stretch of cycle lane.

Ah the old "I'm a cyclist meself"....

The point you missed is why should cyclists use cycle lanes all the time if motorists don't use motorways all the time?

DelBoy Trotter

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Ah the old "I'm a cyclist meself"....

The point you missed is why should cyclists use cycle lanes all the time if motorists don't use motorways all the time?

You’re coming across like an asshole tbh. Shutup hasn’t attacked cyclists, and has even shown that he’s been cycling with one or two from this forum and you jump down his throat.

Its posts and attitudes like yours that don’t help the situation at all when it comes to cyclists V cars and trying to get better cycling infrastructure

tomasrojo

In Dublin, I find by and large people cycling do use the cycle lanes in the inner suburbs and city centre, and they do use the ones that offer a quieter cycle outside the inner suburbs.

The ones people really don't use or the ones that take you off the road for a few dozen seconds and then drop you back on the road, or put you in a position where you have to yield to side traffic.

Tenzor07

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

You’re coming across like an asshole tbh. Shutup hasn’t attacked cyclists, and has even shown that he’s been cycling with one or two from this forum and you jump down his throat.
Its posts and attitudes like yours that don’t help the situation at all when it comes to cyclists V cars and trying to get better cycling infrastructure

The topic "Why don't cyclists use the cycle lanes" has been done to death here on boards and in the media..The threads take up the same question in one form or another...
It never ends well, so do we really need another thread when if you search on boards for "Cycle lanes" you will find dozens of threads like this one: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=100546839

Going back years. So if someone really wants to know why Cycle lanes aren't used all the time, then search here or Google..


Oh if you want to discuss me coming across like an Asshole then PM me.

shutup

Tenzor07 wrote: »

The topic "Why don't cyclists use the cycle lanes" has been done to death here on boards and in the media..The threads take up the same question in one form or another...
It never ends well, so do we really need another thread when if you search on boards for "Cycle lanes" you will find dozens of threads like this one: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=100546839

Going back years. So if someone really wants to know why Cycle lanes aren't used all the time, then search here or Google..


Oh if you want to discuss me coming across like an Asshole then PM me.

Were you on the drummartin link road on Friday.

Thanks everyone else for the good answers. Much appreciated

Tenzor07

shutup wrote: »

Were you on the drummartin link road on Friday.

And if I was? What of it, it's not illegal to cycle on the road, that section of the city bound lane is downhill so 40kph is quite well within reach, hardly likely to hold up any motorist.

magicbastarder

mod note - to those bickering, cut it out now. it's a nice sunday, walk away from the computer/phone.

iwillhtfu

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Oh if you want to discuss me coming across like an Asshole then PM me.

Put the handbags away

I think most cyclists would love to have the opportunity to use a purpose built cycleway for all of their spins but instead we're handed a cross between reasonable sections and others like back roads in Mogadishu.

My main gripe with them is the way they just randomly finish or dump you back into a live lane. Then other times they skirt around housing estates with the footpath then you've to stop and yield to traffic just to carry on straight. Others you can't even get onto without having to mount a kerb.

I don't think anyone enjoys sharing the road with cars but here we are and it will not change in any of our life times.

AndrewJRenko

shutup wrote: »

Were you on the drummartin link road on Friday.

If you're talking about the section where Drummartin Road meets Eden Park Drive, it could well have been me on Friday.

https://goo.gl/maps/XvgecUUN62aBujnbA

I avoid that stretch of cycle lane like the plague. The design at the junction with Eden Park Drive has resulted in motorists flying out towards the junction, never considering the possibility of a cyclist on the cycle lane. With the descent, it's easy to build up quite a speed there, so why would I choose to put myself in a position where I have to give way to an exiting motorists, instead of taking the lane, and requiring the motorist to give way to me - the natural scheme of things at a T-junction?

Also, after Eden Park Drive, the section of bike lane at the bus stop isn't good for anybody, so I avoid that too.

https://goo.gl/maps/3aFiQSGmG3NyYfCF8

Johnny Jukebox

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

If you're talking about the section where Drummartin Road meets Eden Park Drive, it could well have been me on Friday.

https://goo.gl/maps/XvgecUUN62aBujnbA

Great photo - why should a cyclist have to yield here ? (you can clearly see not one but two yield signs on the ground here). It makes no sense that cyclists should have to yield at this junction but other traffic does not.

Given a choice why would I use a piece of infrastructure that engineers me as a 2nd class road user when I could *legally* use another piece of infrastructure one meter to the right where I am a 1st class road user, same as other traffic.

This is on my commute, and I have seen near misses, stand offs, rows and 1 collision here.

shutup

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

If you're talking about the section where Drummartin Road meets Eden Park Drive, it could well have been me on Friday.

https://goo.gl/maps/XvgecUUN62aBujnbA

I avoid that stretch of cycle lane like the plague. The design at the junction with Eden Park Drive has resulted in motorists flying out towards the junction, never considering the possibility of a cyclist on the cycle lane. With the descent, it's easy to build up quite a speed there, so why would I choose to put myself in a position where I have to give way to an exiting motorists, instead of taking the lane, and requiring the motorist to give way to me - the natural scheme of things at a T-junction?

Also, after Eden Park Drive, the section of bike lane at the bus stop isn't good for anybody, so I avoid that too.

https://goo.gl/maps/3aFiQSGmG3NyYfCF8

I caught up to the cyclist in question just passed the luas station and he was going straight on towards The Goat.
Unless going right on to Kilmacud Road I think the cycle lane should be used during that section. It’s actually a really good lane.
However, using the road isn’t my problem with this individual.
He was barely peddling and it was frustrating to be stuck behind.
I got passed where it turns to two lanes but kept an eye on him.
His bike handling through the backed up traffic when we got close to the lights was appalling and dangerous.
He stopped to argue with a driver. He must have been passed before I caught up to him and wanted to make a point. So he was in the newly formed second lane blocking that too.
Then when he got to the lights having filtered badly up to the top he started another argument with the guy at the top of his lane. That driver may have slightly encroached over the white line.
So in that short stretch he was cycling badly and started two arguments.

eeeee

shutup wrote: »

So you don’t use a cycle lane because the state spends billions on motorways etc ?
Seems you felt I was attacking cyclists and you dove in defence.
I’m not trying to start an argument about cyclist versus motorists. Quite the opposite. I’m trying to let people know why cyclists don’t use them.
I am a cyclist and I’d love to see more bikes in the road.
Although I was very put out by a cyclists behaviour on the drumartin link road on Friday and I am wondering why he was in traffic like a mad man goading people into arguments instead of being up on a great stretch of cycle lane.

I cycle on the Drummartin Link Road, and I don't use the cycle lane, because it is basically a footpath for the most part, people with buggies, dogs one xtendable leads, kids wobbling about. It also completely disappears before the Beacon junction.
I stay out on the road until after the roundabout, where I go straight on (and not on the M50!).

It's a good example of a cycle lane that is good in theory but poor in practice. It is difficult to get onto in the first place, but because it's the same level as a footpath that runs alongside a public park, it just becomes a footpath.

And that's all before you get to the inability to socially distance on it as a result of how busy it is with pedestrians.

tomasrojo

c

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Also, after Eden Park Drive, the section of bike lane at the bus stop isn't good for anybody, so I avoid that too.

https://goo.gl/maps/3aFiQSGmG3NyYfCF8

I go down that way, and I use the cycle lane there just to avoid being hassled, but they're not good cycle tracks, especially the second one, which I've quoted. I ring my bell going down it now if I'm the only person cycling there, because one day someone emerged from the hedge without looking, heading to cross the road!

AndrewJRenko

shutup wrote: »

I caught up to the cyclist in question just passed the luas station and he was going straight on towards The Goat.
Unless going right on to Kilmacud Road I think the cycle lane should be used during that section. It’s actually a really good lane.
However, using the road isn’t my problem with this individual.
He was barely peddling and it was frustrating to be stuck behind.
I got passed where it turns to two lanes but kept an eye on him.
His bike handling through the backed up traffic when we got close to the lights was appalling and dangerous.
He stopped to argue with a driver. He must have been passed before I caught up to him and wanted to make a point. So he was in the newly formed second lane blocking that too.
Then when he got to the lights having filtered badly up to the top he started another argument with the guy at the top of his lane. That driver may have slightly encroached over the white line.
So in that short stretch he was cycling badly and started two arguments.

I'm a bit confused if we're talking about the same sections. Are you talking about the bit of cycle lane that I posted two links to?

If so, I don't see how you would have caught up at the Luas station. Maybe you could clarify?

But regardless, it's not up to you to decide what parts of the road particular cyclists should use, just as it's not up to me to decide that these motorists should have been on the M50 anyway.

People make their own decisions, whether you like them or not.

LeinsterDub

shutup wrote: »

I understand Cyclists in Ireland are not legally obliged to use a cycling lane where one is provided.
However, in the interest of understanding for New cyclists and all other road users who may not have any experience cycling could you give some explanation and reasons why you would not use a cycling lane.

Imagine someone found a country lane. And to meet a quota or to tick some box they decided to paint a line down the middle of it. Stick up a 120 kph sign and call it a motorway would you drive it like a motorway?

07Lapierre

07Lapierre wrote: »

Imagine if the left lane on the m50 directed traffic up every slip road at every junction. Every car had to go up the slip road, stop at the lights, then once the light went green, the car could then drive down the slip road and rejoin the M50. Now imagine the left lane is covered in broken glass, gravel, debris and pedestrians. imagine that their is no legal requirement to use the left lane.
How many people would do this, when they could just as easily move into lane 2 and bypass the slip roads and stay on the M50?

This is exactly what is expected of cyclists and our cycle lanes. They are badly designed, not fit for purpose and It's more convenient to stay on the road.

CramCycle

shutup wrote: »

Although I was very put out by a cyclists behaviour on the drumartin link road on Friday and I am wondering why he was in traffic like a mad man goading people into arguments instead of being up on a great stretch of cycle lane.

I rarely use the bike lane there are numerous designs flaws there. I occasionally use some of it if there are not pedestrians around but there are sections that are never good to use.

shutup wrote: »

I caught up to the cyclist in question just passed the luas station and he was going straight on towards The Goat.
Unless going right on to Kilmacud Road I think the cycle lane should be used during that section. It’s actually a really good lane.

Its actually really bad here, more so than most of the rest of it. Eden Park Drive is a fatality waiting to happen.

However, using the road isn’t my problem with this individual.
He was barely peddling and it was frustrating to be stuck behind.
I got passed where it turns to two lanes but kept an eye on him.
His bike handling through the backed up traffic when we got close to the lights was appalling and dangerous.

Even at a slow pace, its nto two lanes for long, actually its 3, one for each direction.

He stopped to argue with a driver. He must have been passed before I caught up to him and wanted to make a point. So he was in the newly formed second lane blocking that too.
Then when he got to the lights having filtered badly up to the top he started another argument with the guy at the top of his lane. That driver may have slightly encroached over the white line.
So in that short stretch he was cycling badly and started two arguments.

He maybe a d1ck (he might not, I wasn't there) but it sounds like traffic was heavy enough that his slow peddalling made no difference to you or anyone else, as despite this, he still managed to filter at the lights. And if traffic was light, there are loads of safe times to overtake on that road.

ED E

In case it hasnt been mentioned before, when a cycle lane is where 20 bus pax disembark, its not a cycle lane, its a footpath.

Markcheese

Cork city council put in some lovely cycle lanes , that are on the same level as the footpath , and start and end at pedestrian crossings ,( ie where pedestrians wait to cross ) , in fairness they've done some well segregated ones too ...

JustAThought

Dublin have spent millions on dual lane raised cycle paths in scenic areas with massive disruption to high density commuter traffic while they were being build - yet the traffic is still left chugging behind 10 mph cyclists on 60-80 kph streatches of roads. Where cycle lanes are in place they should be obligatory.

I narrowly missed mincing a moron cyclist who came off the footpath onto the road in front of me and BRAKED to admire the view. If I had been 2 seconds later in my braking he would have been a jam sandwich. If I hd been a truck or bus driver he would have been exterminated.

Fools on bikes incapable of knowing or unwilling to follow the rules of the road should have their bikes taken off them for their welfare and to keep the roads safe. If I had swerved into a car or other cyclist or driven over him the gaurds would have been all over it like a rash - as it is there are no consequences for abusing the rules of the road for cyclists and no financial consequences if they cause an accident - this need to change alongside cyclists shrugging off bike lanes and not wanting to use them because they might have to slow down, wait their turn or use good judgement.

JustAThought

JustAThought wrote: »

Dublin have spent millions on dual lane raised cycle paths in scenic areas with massive disruption to high density commuter traffic while they were being build - yet the traffic is still left chugging behind 10 mph cyclists on 60-80 kph streatches of roads. Where cycle lanes are in place they should be obligatory.

I narrowly missed mincing a moron cyclist who came off the footpath onto the road in front of me and BRAKED to admire the view. If I had been 2 seconds later in my braking he would have been a jam sandwich. If I hd been a truck or bus driver he would have been exterminated.

Fools on bikes incapable of knowing or unwilling to follow the rules of the road should have their bikes taken off them for their welfare and to keep the roads safe. If I had swerved into a car or other cyclist or driven over him the gaurds would have been all over it like a rash - as it is there are no consequences for abusing the rules of the road for cyclists and no financial consequences if they cause an accident - this need to change alongside cyclists shrugging off bike lanes and not wanting to use them because they might have to slow down, wait their turn or use good judgement.

You read the whole thread clearly

AndrewJRenko

JustAThought wrote: »

Dublin have spent millions on dual lane raised cycle paths in scenic areas with massive disruption to high density commuter traffic while they were being build - yet the traffic is still left chugging behind 10 mph cyclists on 60-80 kph streatches of roads. Where cycle lanes are in place they should be obligatory.

I narrowly missed mincing a moron cyclist who came off the footpath onto the road in front of me and BRAKED to admire the view. If I had been 2 seconds later in my braking he would have been a jam sandwich. If I hd been a truck or bus driver he would have been exterminated.

Fools on bikes incapable of knowing or unwilling to follow the rules of the road should have their bikes taken off them for their welfare and to keep the roads safe. If I had swerved into a car or other cyclist or driven over him the gaurds would have been all over it like a rash - as it is there are no consequences for abusing the rules of the road for cyclists and no financial consequences if they cause an accident - this need to change alongside cyclists shrugging off bike lanes and not wanting to use them because they might have to slow down, wait their turn or use good judgement.

Should the fools in cars, like the 98% of drivers that break urban speed limits, have their cars taken off them for their own welfare and to keep the roads safe?

We're gonna need a bigger pound.

tomasrojo

I cycled home from my sister's house earlier, and I tried out the cycle lane that runs alongside the M50 from Ballinteer to Moreen. It was actually pretty nice. Better than my usual on-road route.

Anyway, sometimes off-road cycle tracks are ok. God, so many bad ones though.

Wishbone Ash

JustAThought wrote: »

.....Fools on bikes incapable of knowing or unwilling to follow the rules of the road should have their bikes taken off them for their welfare and to keep the roads safe.....

You do realise that the roads would be hundreds of times more safer if fools in motor vehicles 'incapable of knowing or unwilling to follow the rules had their vehicles taken off them for their welfare and to keep the roads safe'?

CramCycle

MOD VOICE: If the OP is happy that his query has been suitably answered I might wrap this one up by the end of the day.

LeinsterDub

JustAThought wrote: »

Dublin have spent millions on dual lane raised cycle paths in scenic areas with massive disruption to high density commuter traffic while they were being build - yet the traffic is still left chugging behind 10 mph cyclists on 60-80 kph streatches of roads. Where cycle lanes are in place they should be obligatory.

Dublin spent billions on a 4 lane motorway -yet cyclist are still left behind traffic . Where the M50 exists it should be obligatory for all journeys that don't end in the city :rolleyes:

magicbastarder

JustAThought wrote: »

Dublin have spent millions on dual lane raised cycle paths in scenic areas
...
I narrowly missed mincing a moron cyclist who came off the footpath onto the road in front of me and BRAKED to admire the view.

this is quite an interesting crowbarring of a point into the discussion.
i don't see what scenic areas have to do with it. and also, you mention this cyclist came off the *footpath*. not the cycle path, so i don't know what point is being made here.

paddydriver

shutup wrote: »

So you don’t use a cycle lane because the state spends billions on motorways etc ?
Seems you felt I was attacking cyclists and you dove in defence.
I’m not trying to start an argument about cyclist versus motorists. Quite the opposite. I’m trying to let people know why cyclists don’t use them.
I am a cyclist and I’d love to see more bikes in the road.
Although I was very put out by a cyclists behaviour on the drumartin link road on Friday and I am wondering why he was in traffic like a mad man goading people into arguments instead of being up on a great stretch of cycle lane.

That's about one of the only stretches of cycle lane I use as its right next to my house.. but with my experiences of cycle lanes, that one is indeed one of the exceptions as its a very good cycle lane, but not without its faults either.

Hurrache

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Further on i jumped on the cycle lanes around ballycoolin. Not bad but you have to yield every where a road crosses, including the garage along the way.

Loads of space on the ones around Ballycoolin, but like you said, an absolute pain in the ass having to cede at every junction and entrance/exit. More so that at the roundabouts in which you want to go straight you're directed out of your way around to the next pedestrian crossing, which you cross, and then have to double back on yourself.

Having said that, during rush hours it's absolutely mental around there with the amount cars, van and trucks tipping away at a decent speed, because the roundabouts are so big there's not much need to slow down to drive around them.

Macy0161

The Drumartin Link Road/ Clonskeagh Road is one of my commute options (when I'm in the office). The link road cycle lane itself is ok, but very much shared space in pre-covid times, I can only imagine now with pedestrians trying to physical distance it must be pretty unusable. There's also road works so I thought it was closed.

The Drumartin Road "cycle lane" is an absolute clusterf*ck.

As for using them, I usually do commuting, but there's a few sections that I rarely use the "perfectly good"/ "spent millions on" cycle lanes due to where they dump you out onto the road, and having to yield when if I was on the road I wouldn't have to. On top of all the other issues outlined above.

fatbhoy

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

The cycle lane could be in terrible condition

Some cycle lanes have poles in the middle of them :rolleyes:

Cycle lanes can be full of grit/stones/glass as traffic pushes all that sort of crap to the left of the driving lane

Some cycle lanes have drains and man hole covers in them, which aren’t particularly safe when dry, but can be like glass when wet

Pedestrians/children/dogs walking on or stepping into the cycle lane without looking (mainly when they are the same height as the footpath)

If it’s a raised cycle lane (same height as the footpath), it makes it a lot harder to take a right turn as you have to come off the curb

Some cycle lanes have terrible designs. The cycle lane could end and it will spit you out onto the road at a right angle, which basically means stopping dead if there is any traffic coming before you can join the road, so it’s easier to stay on the road in the first place

Some drivers see the cycle lane marking as some invisible wall between them and the cyclist, so don’t bother giving the proper distance between them and the cyclist

Speaking as a long-time cyclist, I'd prefer if we didn't have any at all.

tomasrojo

All the same, you can see how popular certain bits of cycling infrastructure are. I don't think there's any doubt that people preferentially use the main bit of the Grand Canal cycleway rather than the road. I know some people prefer the road, and I can see why, but the cycleway is much more popular. Even though it has significant compromises and problems (I personally found a different route to work, as I couldn't be dealing with the bottleneck at Lesson St. bridge anymore)

MojoMaker

Had the pleasure of travelling that section of cycle track this morning at about 8am from Beacon to UCD. Albeit very little motor traffic and almost no walkers/joggers meant rapid progress could be maintained the whole way from the Beacon hospital to Ranelagh (lights notwithstanding) before it descended into a tricky navigation around the village itself.

I'm sure with busier footpaths and social distancing that cycle track would be a totally different prospect, and yes, the Eden park "junction" is a fatal calamity with no yield sign visible to the motorist emerging from or heading into the estate.

One of the better ones around the Dublin suburbs I reckon.

Blanch is a cluster****, that roundabout at Powercity is really, really dodgy - slippy as fcuk too!

Ultima Thule

The new orange poles lining cycle lanes might be a bit tricky for kids learning, as they are laid out following the curve of a turn thus creating a slalom for cyclists continuing straight through a junction.

I doubt the planners have a high enough education nevermind cycling ability themselves.

CramCycle

MOD VOICE: And we are done, if you want it reopened, PM me. The OP has signalled he is happy with the answer. All the best.