Dublin councillors could not agree the exact course of the Liffey Cycle Route despite years of debate. And so today funding for the €20 million project from the East Link Bridge to Heuston station has been withdrawn.
Plans for one of the most progressive, and badly needed, pieces of cycling infrastructure in Ireland have been put on hold after the funding was withdrawn.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has withdrawn the monies that were to be made available for the Liffey Cycle Route.
It made the move after years of dithering and an inability by Dublin councillors to agree a route for the cycle way.
The Liffey Cycle Route envisaged would have spanned 6km, taking cyclists across the city centre from east to west.
It would have joined the East Link Bridge to Heuston train station. However, the exact route along some stretches was always a contentious issue.
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Cycling groups, residents groups, business owners and councillors all lobbied for one route over another and objected to other options.
In total, 16 routes were put forward over the last five years. Dublin City Council’s transport department put forward eight options.
A recent suggestion involved creating a boardwalk at the Liffey on Ellis Quay and Arran Quay, which would have added roughly €3 million to the project.
Twelve months ago the council’s transport planners proposed taking all private cars and lorries into an area north of the Liffey in order to avoid a very narrow stretch of quays.
It amounted to a ban on the vehicles on a stretch of the quays from Ellis Quay to Arran Quay in favour of the Liffey Cycle Route.
However, when it emerged the vehicles were being diverted onto a 1.5km route via commercial and residential areas such as Stoneybatter and Smithfield local groups objected strongly.
The NTA has now informed Dublin City Council the money for the project was no longer being made available to it.
And the NTA now wants an independent examination of all routes proposed to date. However, no time line has been put in place meaning the project is in real danger over the longer term.
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