The High Court in Dublin has ordered a halt to work underway on the new two-way segregated cycleway at Sandymount in south Dublin.
Work had already begun on the new facility and Strand Rd, along the coast, was due to be reduced to one lane from next Monday to enable construction on the project to progress.
The cycleway was due to be opened on March 1st for a six-month trial but a local resident, Peter Carvill, and Cllr Mannix Flynn (Ind) last week took a case to the High Court seeking a judicial review.
And now the High Court has ordered work on the project to
halt until the next court hearing, which is scheduled for late April.
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Mr Justice Charles Meenan approved an application by Mr
Carvill and Cllr Flynn to put a stay on the work pending the hearing of the
judicial review on April 27th.
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The two-way cycleway being installed would result in vehicular traffic being reduced to one lane on Strand Rd, with drivers allowed to travel outbound only to the Merrion Gates.
While most of the 3,000 respondents to a public survey
welcomed the two-way segregated cycle route trial for six months, others
objected and some residents groups have been especially opposed to the project.
Mr Carvill and Cllr Flynn claim Dublin City Council breached the law by failing to publish a screening assessment of the project during public consultation. The screening assessment concluded an environmental impact study was not required.
The case also claims the screening assessment, carried
out by consultants, did not take into account the fact vehicles displaced from
Strand Rd – when it is scaled down to a way-one road to accommodate the
cycleway – into surrounding areas would spread pollution there.
They also dispute statements by Dublin City Council that
the cycleway is part of its efforts to provide for more sustainable modes of
transport as more people were walking and cycling during the pandemic.
Cllr Flynn last week applied to An Bord Pleanála for a declaration that Dublin City Council requires planning permission for the cycle path and he claims cyclists would be so close together on the cycleway that it would help spread Covid19.
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