When there’s construction and a challenge with road space, the answer always seems to be to block the cycle lane, says Ciaran Cannon, of Cycling Ireland.
On the Clontarf Road, late Monday afternoon, a narrow makeshift path between a large work site and the busy carriageway is busy with those on foot, and those on wheels.
The permanent footpath and cycle lanes along the greenway of Clontarf promenade are closed off at the moment on this stretch between Alfie Byrne Road and Hollybrook Road.
That’s to allow for works to reduce the flood risk from the Wad River, according to the Clontarf Residents Association.
Cyclist Rory McGrath uses the route regularly, to and from town, and says the current situation is far from ideal for bikes or pedestrians. “It’s a pain in the ass, to be honest with you,” he says.
While he understands the reason for the current works, he asks why cars and pedestrians have been accommodated with their own channels, while cyclists are sent out onto the road to navigate often heavy traffic during busy periods.
Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, several more cyclists chose instead to make their way through the makeshift footpath – some dismounting to walk, some not.
Social Democrats Councillor Paddy Monahan says the set-up on the Clontarf Road highlights a broader issue of how cyclists often seem to be an afterthought for traffic management in the city during roadworks.
Ciaran Cannon, the president of Cycling Ireland, said he had noticed the same lack of care during construction in other council areas.
“I came across one recently,” he says. “I was cycling in South Dublin, and a big sign appeared that just said ‘cycle lane closed’. I had no option but to go out into the main carriageway, which was quite scary at times.”
At the monthly meeting of Dublin City Council’s North Central Area Committee on 16 June, Monahan asked the council when the Clontarf Road works will be completed.
As well as when the cycle route will reopen, and why no provision for cyclists has been put in place.
The diversion should be removed, and the greenway returned to normal by August, “if at all possible”, and the flood works should be done in September, said a reply from Gerard O'Connell, a senior engineer.
“Provisions for cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles are in place past the works,” the reply said.
“But to date, despite our best efforts, approximately 50% of south bound cyclists are disobeying diversion signs or instructions and following the pedestrian diversion route and 10% of the northbound cyclists are doing the same,” the reply said.
Dublin City Council continues to monitor the situation, and will make improvements wherever possible, it said.
Monahan says the council’s response is vague, veering on victim-blaming. He doesn’t see any provisions for cyclists, he says.
Cyclists aren’t given any directions and the expectation seems to be to merge with heavily congested motor traffic, said Monahan.
There is just one sign that says: “Cycle Lane Closed Divert” with an arrow.
That sign was initially further down the coast, away from town, but was more recently moved closer to the work site itself, says Monahan.
Regardless, he says, the sign is pointless as anyone can see that if you keep cycling, you will simply smash into the closed fencing directly ahead.
If the council is seeing that 50 percent of cyclists going towards town are disobeying diversion signs or instructions, that should give them cause to ask why, says Monahan.
It points to a failure of the efforts made by council and the lack of useful cycling infrastructure at the works, he said. “Cyclists are voting with their feet in favour of safety and self-preservation.”
Cannon, of Cycling Ireland, says the Clontarf situation is indicative of a wider trend across the city and country.
There have been significant improvements to cycling infrastructure in recent years, he says, including what he calls the “phenomenal” changes along the quays.
But, he says, there remains a deep culturally embedded idea that the people who walk and cycle are somehow subservient to those who drive cars, he says. This notion, he says, is hardwired into all of us from the day we're born.
“We look at the media. We look at how we hand out high-vis gilets to little junior infants, telling them it is your responsibility to stay safe on the roads, not the adults’ responsibility to ensure that you're not walking and cycling in a hostile environment. Which is what we do,” Cannon says.
When it comes to road works or infrastructure development in our cities and towns, where a challenge arises around road space, he says, the default reaction is to block the cycle lane.
Cycle lanes are perceived as optional or secondary infrastructure, he says.
A lingering perception runs through the whole of society, all the way into the decisions that are taken by engineering staff or construction companies, Cannon says, that cycling is a recreational or a niche transport option.
Yet, according to the latest Central Statistics Office data, more people cycle to work and school in Dublin than take the Luas and Dart combined, he said.
There should be no need to catapult cyclists on their morning commute through Clontarf out into the general carriageway, says Cannon, when they've been perfectly safe up to and after that particular diversion.
“We need to look at other solutions and to embed in people's minds that a cycle lane isn't just a convenience, it's a commuter’s lifeline. That’s the way it needs to be understood and perceived and protected as far as possible,” he says.
Monahan, the Social Democrats councillor, was not happy with the council’s response to his question, he says.
He plans to bring a motion to the next meeting of the North Central Area Committee, he says.
It calls on the area manager to install a temporary, two-way, segregated cycle lane on the stretch while works are ongoing in that area.
Cannon, of Cycling Ireland, argues that stronger legislation – be it local bye-laws or national – should be established that make it very clear to contractors that they must maintain safe cycling routes through or around work zones.
If that's not physically possible, he suggests providing safe, well-marked detours that cyclists can use for the duration of the construction project
According to the Department of Transport’s Traffic Management Guidelines, when works are underway in a built-up area, it is important that cyclists are “specifically catered for” in the roadworks scheme.
“Poor surfaces, narrow traffic lanes and ineffective enforcement of speed reductions may lead to unacceptable road conditions for these users,” the guidelines say.
Cyclists are definitely not being specifically catered for during the Clontarf flood works, says Monahan.
Instead, they are being squashed into just the situation outlined in the guidelines, he says.
“It's a very poor surface. It's a very narrow lane. And not only that, but we're supposed to filter into heavy traffic that's coming up from behind us,” he says.
On Monday, at the Clontarf Road work site, cyclist Alan Barbour said that during peak times, the area in and around the makeshift pathway is chaotic as pedestrians, cyclists – either mounted or dismounted – joggers, wheelchair users and heavy traffic all navigate a tight space.
Says Monahan: “It's a recipe for disaster, and potentially lethal.”
“We want people cycling today. We want people to feel safe today," says Social Democrats Councillor Paddy Monahan.
"Can we stop, please, with commissioning more reports and actually just fix what we already know is broken?" says Mark Gleeson, of Rail Users Ireland.
“It was subsequently recognised that this would be difficult to achieve … ,” says a Department of Transport spokesperson.
Last year, the council left €500,000 in National Transport Authority funding for bus stop improvements on the table.
