New bike lane being built at the arse end of skehard road. What's the point?

scrotist

This area is a complete ghost town. I never see anybody walking here, or cycling here.

But they've been building this thing for about a month.

There is literally never a soul walking around this area. What a waste of money.

The only people who will use this bike lane is the travelers. Not joking, they are the only people I see on this road driving the sulky things around or whatever they're called.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Safe infrastructure will encourage people to cycle there. I agree it's disconnected at the moment but ultimately the hope is to have a fully connected network of cycle lanes which will in turn grow numbers cycling as it's safer to do so. Keeping the status quo isn't an option.

Regarding funding, this is drawn down from Gov for active travel and in my opinion any cycle lane is money well spent. Wait til you hear how much they spend on dual carriageways!

run_Forrest_run

yeah those damn dual carriageways, what have they ever done for us!

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003032#Comment_122003032

They do nothing for those that don't use them.

Mr.CoolGuy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004134#Comment_122004134

Unless you live in hovel and survive off stream water and foraged food, you use them.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122005128#Comment_122005128

We had running water and food on the shelves long before we had dual carriageways!

I have a car, I'm not claiming that I don't use dual carriageways. But, I'd still like to see more money invested in active and public transport than on new roads.

My point is that if you don't drive, as many don't, a new dual carriageway, paid out of the public purse, does nothing for you! But, thankfully, we don't get to personally choose what tax money gets spent on, be it cycle lanes or dual carriageways!

Leatra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122005368#Comment_122005368

In fairness, a good road network is essential for society in general, for the movement of goods from ports to shops etc., reducing travel times and improving safety.

I'm very happy though to see the Skehard Road works though; getting more people walking and cycling around there will be a great step in the right direction of making Mahon a lovely area. It already has the greenway and the harbour walkway so polishing up the bits in between will be a great help. It's not as though these things are huge expenses, either. They should be fairly basic investments toward improving our quality of life.

There's also some nice footpath development going on on Donnybrook Hill that I've been admiring. :)

Balmed Out

Theres a lot of Gaa pitches as well as Ringmahon Rovers down there so presume to allow them to use it and plenty of people do walk and cycle in that area including many going onto railway line…

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058346043/new-bike-lane-being-built-at-the-arse-end-of-skehard-road-whats-the-point

It's called using up allocated funds. It doesn't have to make any sense at all to ordinary plebs. Where I live they are cycle lanes on both sides of a busy road which reduced the width for vehicles.My car is wider than the lane allocated to it.Also,close to a junction.Will be interesting court case if a collision occurs.A bus has to straddle the forward lane and a filter lane to avoid contact with cycle lane.But who cares-the allocated funds are spent

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122008999#Comment_122008999

Why drive such a wide car that doesn't fit in lanes? Sounds very inconvenient.

beachhead

Yes,I must cut a third off it and tell the manufacturer.Should be ok then

Brussels Sprout

"Build it and they will come" OP

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122009083#Comment_122009083

Or you could have bought a less wide car that fits where you need to go. For your own convenience.

beachhead

I am looking at a trike now cuz I have a passenger They can wear shin guards

markodaly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122009083#Comment_122009083

I think you must be a poor driver.

Maybe cycle instead?

scrotist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122008999#Comment_122008999

These new cycle lanes at the arse end of skehard road have lamposts in the fcuking middle of them as well.

When they open up to the public I'm going to cycle into one of them and sue for 12 billion pound

scrotist

This is OP. Back for another rant.

I started this thread in April. It's August 11th. Outside my house is still a construction site. They haven't completed the bike lane yet.

Honestly, what the fcuk are the council up to? How does it take this long to build a bike lane?

The bike lane they've built so far is about 20 meters long, then they erected a fence at the end of it that you can crash into.

If they remove the fence it's still a load of slabs of concrete thrown around that you will crash into anyway.

Also there is a lampost in the middle of the bike lane every few meters. They never bothered removing the old lamp posts from 1992 or whenever they were put there. Basically it's unusable. And it's still not ready. It actually looks like they've given up.

It took them 5 months to destroy the road and turn it into a "ghost building site".

I wish I knew somebody in the council so I could ask them what the feck is going on. They'd be shot in any normal developed country if this happened.

cantalach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491654#Comment_122491654

That’s what councillors are for. If you’re on Skehard Road then you’re in Des Cahill’s ward. Just send him a mail. I’ve found him very helpful with questions like that before.

beachhead

Dessie boy

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122491654#Comment_122491654

So you live in an area that is by your own words a "ghost town". At least be honest and say the issue wasn't the bike lane, and more your perceived inconvenience.

If there is a genuine danger there, report it to both the roads department and your local councillor.

Bricriu

Blame the awful Greens.

They don't think anything out properly! Spaced out dreamers.

scrotist

If this happened in China the project manager would literally be in prison and probably a few other government officials.

scrotist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493259#Comment_122493259

You are totally fine with the council spending 6 months to build 20 meters of bike lane? Which is still not finished and it looks like they have abandoned?

It's not a danger to me. I don't use it. I was just pointing out the state of it.

65535

The end of the Skehard Road junction now is hazardous - a Bus has to take a very wide turn there in order to turn up onto the Skehard Road but it's just not possible without the Bus either going onto the footpath or waiting for any Skehard Road cars to move out or reverse.

There are 2 lines still on the road - this morning a Driver decides to use the middle (old) line to come towards me making me stop on the road until they saw what they were doing.

All of this has been obviously drawn out on a computer somewhere - yet no account was made for the large Double Decker Buses that use this road.

There are long kerbs now along the other roads in the area and no one knows how to use them or what they are for.

Speed bumps have been removed and there are no signs of them being replaced.

I'm sure you'll all say - well this was all shown in such a place and you could have seen it beforehand - that's not the point - as a Motorist, Pedestrian AND a Cyclist in the area there is little thought put into a shared road - one where Pedestrians, Cyclists and Buses/Cars can safely get through the area.

We are waiting for it to be finished - the Pedestrian Crossing in the area is welcome however there are no zig zags or indicators that no parking is allowed which would hide the pedestrians crossing.

Further on from the Pedestrian Crossing the road recedes into tatters again because - we were only told to do this / not that'

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493677#Comment_122493677

Not at all, but your initial point in the OP was why build it at all not that it was taking so long. You are right to be annoyed about that but that wasn't what you claimed to be annoyed about at the start.

xabi

Jaysus lads, they are in the middle of construction, its not finished yet. Wait until its finished then cast your judgements.

Smee_Again

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493261#Comment_122493261

There's 3 Green councilors in Cork, why are they getting the blame and not the other 28 non-Green councilors?

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122497954#Comment_122497954

Which year,though?

Spooch

God forbid they actually try and improve Mahon with a bit of modern infrastructure. If the morons had their way the place would still be fields of muck with people still complaining they don't get enough investment from the "Corporation"

notAMember

Sweet jesus, are ye deliberately trolling the OP?

The point OP is obviously making is that it's not an improvement. Bike lanes that cannot be swept or cleaned, with lampposts smack in the middle of them are utterly unusable, completely pointless and dangerous.

Modern infrastructure my arse. Bike lanes are great when they are done right, if not, it's a waste of money, space and resources.

I'm a cyclist, car user, bus user, pedestrian. There are two places in Cork where I've almost been wiped out on on the bike, and Skehard road is one of them, on my way back from the graveyard down there, by a bus that couldn't fit in the car lane, so it was all over the bike lane.

It's absolutely not moronic to want things done to a reasonable design spec that account for the usage and maintenance needs, with the work getting finished in a reasonable amount of time.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493261#Comment_122493261

Ehm no. You can thank the Greens for the most investment in public transport and active travel this country has seen in decades.

Poorly designed bike lanes can be blamed on Council engineers. We've certainly sent plenty of feedback and there's a manual to follow for designing these which they constantly ignore. I cycle daily and have to put up with it.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493713#Comment_122493713

'

All of this has been obviously drawn out on a computer somewhere - yet no account was made for the large Double Decker Buses that use this road' - except you had just said that the bus used the old line, so the driver was in the wrong, no?

65535

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122507445#Comment_122507445

There are 2 lines still on the road - this morning a Driver decides to use the middle (old) line to come towards me making me stop on the road until they saw what they were doing.

Nowhere in above sentence do I mention a Bus.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122507982#Comment_122507982

you mentioned buses in the paragraphs before and after the incident you described - its not out of the question to presume you were talking about a bus driver here also

xabi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500797#Comment_122500797

Exactly this.

Kalimah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122493713#Comment_122493713

It's a similar situation where I live in Dublin - cycle lanes squeezed into road space rather than grass verges being reduced. It's a chicane now with lanes running in and out of each other, not enough room for buses to turn, bus stops on islands out from the footpath to accommodate cycles lanes, roads narrowed so much that two buses can hardly pass each other etc etc. Getting on a off a bus is now more hazardous. You can't overtake a bus now either in many cases when it's at a stop because of these changes.

I blame the Greens and whatever idiots the council employ to design these things. None of them have a clue.

the beer revolu

Regarding cycle lanes, generally in Cork, I really can't get over just how badly designed and conceived almost all of them are. If cycling I rarely use most of them as they give cyclists less priority they would have on the road and they constantly feed cyclists onto footpaths and/or are situated such that pedestrians constantly walk in them. Others are so short, you wonder what the point of them are. Add in zero enforcement for parking in them, too.

They are almost all worse than useless in that they annoy both motorists and pedestrians and have virtually no benefit to cyclists.

DylanQuestion

Well I passed today and the new cycle lanes were parked in on Ringmahom Road and The Maples. So they’re next to useless and the whole scheme isn’t done yet

scrotist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122509770#Comment_122509770

Agreed. It's my conspiracy theory that the council gets money for every meter of cycle lane added to the city. Maybe some kind of EU "green initiative" money. So they just throw it anywhere to get this monetary award.

"Let's add a few meters there in front of the lamp post. Great idea, that'll get us a few more bob"

There's a 5 meter stretch of cycle lane on the bridge by the opera house. No idea how you're supposed to use it. Nearly killed myself the other day trying to make my way over to it, only to find that it disappeared after 5 meters.

Imagine people from developed European cities seeing this. They must really think we are dumb as hell.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122620945#Comment_122620945

Then there's the Merchant's Quay beauty. It goes behind the bus stop, where most people are waiting for the bus, who if they aren't standing around on the bike lane, have to cross it to get the bus. Then by Mary Elms bridge, it turns into a shared pedestrian and cycle lane incorporating a pedestrian crossing in a very confusing manner, to finally leave you abandoned on the footpath on your bike at the end of merchant's quay. I used it once and never made that mistake again.

I agree that it just seems to be a box ticking exercise without any real thought for cycle lanes actually making things more convenient for cyclists.

DylanQuestion

Cycling from the city centre to Douglas is always an experience

It’s fine until you get to Copley Street when there’s a significant wait to cross. Then you need to wait again at South Terrace. When you’re going up Infirmary Road, you have to watch out for cars turning onto Old Blackrock Road. You have a cycle lane until High Street, but then you need to get into the traffic lane which isn’t easy when it’s busy. Then you need to get around the cars outside the hospital, which isn’t too bad. But there’s a tiny cycle lane in front of Tesco. It’s pointless going in it as you need to get out 10 seconds later which involves yielding, but you feel bad for not using it if there’s a car behind. The lines technically tell you to merge onto the footpath and then get back onto the next lane by BelAir, but that’s risky given how narrow the footpath is and it’s on a bend so you can’t see pedestrians on coming. Then you have another tiny cycle lane by Bel Air that is pointless to use as again you need to yield to get out of it 10 seconds after you get in. From Cross Douglas Road to Rosebank you have a tiny bit of white line to make you feel secure. You have a good cycle lane then all the way into Douglas, except for outside the Briar Rose. The red resin is gone and the lines have completely faded away, so it’s often parked in at school times. Then when you get to the AIB, the lane starts to get narrow and people drive in it. You’re then dumped out at the messy junction of Douglas Road and Well Road. Which is always annoying as the footpath under the bridge is like a runway it’s so wide. They should continue the cycle lane through the junction and at it at the pedestrian crossing as at least then you have a safe place to yield. Despite the width of Douglas Relief Road, there’s no cycle lane bringing you to Maryborough Hill’s cycle lane. From there it’s fine until you get to the N28 on ramp, but again you’re dumped out into an awkward and busy junction with a really bad road surface. It’s not fun

All of this is better than nothing, but so many of the lanes are effectively useless and clearly box ticking exercises. It was clearly designed with the least amount of disruption possible to drivers

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122621141#Comment_122621141

Yeah the lane up Southern Road is one of the few that seems useful (if cars or vans haven't driven over the poles to park there).

I disagree that these efforts are better than nothing. If there was nothing there, we could hope for a functioning cycle system that makes sense to use, sometime in the future.

As things stand, there's a sense that they've done enough and drivers can bitch about cyclists not even using the existing lanes, so why bother building more?

I really cant get over how consistently not fit for purpose the vast majority of these lanes are.

Acosta

The the general attitude to installing cycling lanes, from what I can see, is to put them where they can fit, not where they're needed. They often appear in wide, safe roads, then disappear once the road narrows and there's no hard shoulder. Utterly pointless.

scrotist

Latest update of the year long operation bike lane.

This guy is sweeping leaves one by one with a shovel. Bike lane still not ready to use.

scrotist

Flattening already laid and flattened tarmac. I think they laid and flattened it before the summer. Can't really remember, it's all a blur.

Whoever these guys are, they're milking the council for every cent.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122621281#Comment_122621281

Because they're designed by people who don't use them, despite the fact we pay for a Sustainable Travel officer in City Hall who is employed full time and appears to do nothing except show up at the odd event for Bike Week.