Cycling infrastructure in Dublin has been dealt a huge blow as money is taken from them and given to LUAS until the light rail system is finished.
Cycling projects planned for Dublin have been postponed for a prolonged period after the National Transport Authority (NTA) decided to prioritise funding for the LUAS light rail system.
At a meeting of Dublin City Council last night, the National Transport Authority said the LUAS works and a number of other projects – including the redesign of traffic flow around College Green in Dublin 2 - were being prioritised over cycling schemes.
And the situation is set to remain until at least the end of next year when the LUAS cross-city project is set to be completed.
“As the various projects linked to LUAS Cross City are progressed, resources will then be released to reactivate the other projects,” the NTA said.
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“LUAS Cross City is due to be completed by the end of next year,” it added.
The move, which seems bizarre and has resulted in a huge amount of backlash on social media today against the NTA and Transport Minister Shane Ross, means the walking and cycling greenway linking the centre of Dublin City to the Dublin Mountains is now postponed.
The route was intended to span almost 30km.
If it goes ahead it will create a cycleway and walkway from the south city quays in the city centre southward to Clonskeagh and Millmount and onto Rathfarnham and Tallaght, into the Dublin Mountains nearby.
And because much of the work to construct the cycleway and walkway is close to the city centre, it appears the NTA wants to focus on one major city centre transport infrastructure project at a time – and only fund one at a time.
And so the cycling and walking greenway loses out.
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A big fear will now be that the impetus will go out of the project and so it will be delayed for years, or never completed as envisaged.
Dublin City Council chief executive Owen Keegan put the ball squarely in the court of Minister Ross, saying the funding promised for the projects by his Department simply had not been honoured.
The specific projects to miss out included:
The Dodder Greenway from Glenasmole in the Dublin Mountains into the city centre, as above.
Segregated cycle lanes in Dublin including Adamstown to Inchicore and Portobello along the Grand Canal.
Phase 4 of the Grand Canal Greenway; about 4.3km in length and stretching from Crossguns Bridge to Ashtown in north Dublin.
The projects were all among a group of cycling and walkway schemes unveiled two years ago and costing an estimated €30 million. They were aimed at improving cycling infrastructure to make cycling more popular and safer.
Fianna Fáil’s spokesman for John Lahart said €1.5 million had been allocated for the Dodder Greenway by the EU to South Dublin County Council and with the project now on hold he questioned where that money was now.
“This is vital infrastructure that is now being neglected. Expansion works on the Luas Cross City line are important but so too is the development of the cycle ways,” he said.
“This decision by Minister Ross is extremely short-sighted. This cycle lane network could remove thousands of commuters from congested peak hour traffic on our roads.
“In a society where obesity is becoming an ever increasing problem, an integrated network of cycle lanes would also provide thousands of people with an outlet to exercise on a daily basis.
“More must be done in the greater Dublin area to provide to safe cycling, we must not compromise one project over another.”
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