New Kerry cycle lane closed because taxis were using it as a rank

Tralee cycle lane closed taxi

This is the new cycle lane, put in as part of a €1.7 million development, now closed because it was being used by taxi drivers as an illegal rank. The council has erected these barriers and now large bushes/plants have been installed in the closed lane.

 

Tralee cycle lane closed due to taxi rank row

 

A brand new cycle lane in Tralee, Co Kerry, has had a large section closed to stop taxis from using it as a rank.

There is annoyance among cycling activists that the taxi drivers were not ticketed and moved on.

Instead, the cycling lane has been blocked off by the council to prevent taxis using the stretch on Denny St as an illegal taxi rank.

Much of the road network in the Kerry town has been under redevelopment this year. And taxi drivers have not been happy that their rank at The Mall is no longer available.

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The roads in that general area are still undergoing works. And the council has forecast that work will not be completed until next month.

 

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As an interim measure, a temporary taxi rank had been supplied at Abbey Court. However, taxi drivers have not been happy with this and they quickly began using the new cycle lane on Denny St as an unofficial rank.

And in a bid to force them to stop, the council erected crowd control barriers on the cycle way.

The barriers mean the cycle lane cannot be used by anyone, including cyclists.

The works being carried out in Tralee are part of a €1.7 million scheme to essentially restructure how traffic flow and parking is arranged in the town.

Some sections of the newly worked road network were opened in May. And the use of the cycle lane as an illegal rank began a short time later.

One cycling activist who did not want to be named because they are trying to work with the council to solve the problem, said cyclists were annoyed the issue was addressed by taking the cyclists’ new facility from them.

“It is pretty lame that the council decided this to be the best solution to the issue rather than to just fine the taxis for illegal parking,” the source said.

They added that as well as the closing off of the section of the cycle lane that was being used as a taxi rank, cars were using the other stretch for parking.

 

 

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