Cyclists in south Dublin have had their paths eased a little with the removal of A-frame gates and an ESB utility box from a new cycle route also set to be taken out.
The ESB box on the Sandyford cycle route is about to be removed while the A-frame gates, located at the entrance to Sandyford Park, have been taken out in recent days.
Both pieces of work may seem small scale but they remove two annoying and unsightly obstacles for cyclists at a time when Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has made significant efforts to install cycling infrastructure.
Cllr Oisín O'Connor, a Green Party representative for Glencullen-Sandyford, explained the utility box had been left in the middle of the cycle route as the construction workers installing the cycleway did not have the power to remove it.
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"Up in Sandyford we have a nice new segregated cycle route that links existing routes at Sandyford Business District and extends up to Sandyford village and residential areas around there," he said.
"Our engineers were always aware of this utility box but don't have the power to compel the owners to move it in line with the construction phasing of the cycle route. It's being removed this week after the cycle route has been open for a good few months now."
He added the gates at the entrance to Sandyford Park had proven impossible for cyclists to negotiate.
"These kinds of gates just block larger buggies, most wheelchairs and make it difficult or impossible for bike users to get through," he said. "This gate was due for removal as part of the Sandyford cycle route works and I've been reminding our team that it's still there," he said the gates that have just been removed.
"For me walking or cycling through them is just a bit annoying but for many of my constituents they're literally a barrier to a healthy activity for transport or leisure so they have to go," he said of wheelchair users and others who may face challenges moving around.
