Temporary Closure of Section of Lough Atalia Road from 23rd March to May, 2015

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Well if they do it in the Summer when the schools are out it'll minimise the disruption. But since when have they ever made sensible decisions? The most likely scenario is that College Road will turn into a car park for the duration unless someone gets creative with the signage. A lot of tourist Dublin and south bound traffic seems to head down Lough Atalia for some reason.

The problem however is that it has to be done at some point. Ironically they probably will only have to take it down to the old road level so you can't even blame the original 19th century builders. Actually there wasn't even a road along Lough Atalia back then.

I don't see how it will take two months though.

That image has Irish Roads Engineer stamped all over it.

Presumably the cyclist is deliberately included. If so, it's a farcical proposal imo.

There is no indication of where the "cycle path" starts, and it ends abruptly for no apparent reason where the footpath takes a sharp turn to the right. It seems that cyclists are expected to proceed (illegally) along the footpath, veer onto the road at a heavily trafficked pinch point, or else teleport to the other side of the bridge.

Lough Atalia Road is already a favourite site for illegal parking and two-way cycling on the footpath. My guess is that this proposed "improvement", "upgrade" or whatever it is be called will reinforce such behaviour.

When I used to cycle that route on a regular basis, I always travelled on the road.

I would prefer cyclists to be on the road, since that can be safer and does not involve losing right of way.

However, I am aware that many cyclists feel safer cycling off-road (even if that is a false belief in some circumstances), which is why many of them go up on the footpaths along that road. Speeding is endemic on the Lough Atalia Road, and I recall that ponding was also a significant problem in wet weather. AFAIK, cyclists also use the footpath to avail of this route.

If cyclists are invited by the Council to cycle on the footpaths, as they are in various places around the city, then that sets them up for conflict with pedestrians. On the other hand, a 'solution' often favoured by Irish roads engineers is simply to shunt cyclists onto the road again, at a point arbitrarily decided by said engineers. Ireland's road network is already over-supplied with such travesties (http://dublinobserver.com/2010/10/cycle-lane-highlights-in-dublin/). There's a relatively recent example in Dublin, which I can't find just now, of where cyclists are directed up and down pavements for reasons nothing to do with cycle safety and utility.

I would therefore prefer an on-road solution, where cyclists are prioritised and protected, and where pedestrian space is not reduced.

Lowering the speed limit on Lough Atalia Road would help, or failing that at least strict enforcement of the current limit for starters. IMO the solution should be based on cycle and pedestrian safety on the entire link, taking cognisance of travel patterns on the entire route. Unfortunately, it's highly likely that this project will only be considered in isolation, which means cyclists using that route will just be left to work it out for themselves.