210km of new and improved cycles lanes planned for county
By Mary Dennehy
SOUTH Dublin County Council is gearing up to deliver 41 projects that could pave the way for nearly 210km of new and improved cycle lanes, and the community is invited to have its say.
The council has prepared a draft Cycle South Dublin programme, which proposes 41 projects over the next 10 years, 19 of which would be delivered by 2024.
Councillors out on a cycle during National Bike Week
According to the council, traffic congestion on main roads across the county has grown by 11 per cent since 2016 – and becoming more challenging as the population continues to grow.
“Congestion not only results in lost time but also has negative environmental, economic and health implications”, the council said.
“Private vehicles will always have an important role to play in how people move around our county, but we quickly need to offer people high-quality public transport alternatives and cycling is critical to this.”
Today only 3.8 per cent of people in the county cycle frequently, the council said.
However, according to Census 2016, more than 20 per cent of people would like to cycle.
Figures from the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) Bike Life survey in 2019 revealed that 33 per cent of people don’t cycle because they are ‘concerned about safety’.
Commenting on this from a South Dublin County perspective, the council said: “There is currently 207km of cycle lanes across South Dublin, but a lot of this is not at the standards needed to address people’s safety fears, nor is it fully connected across the county.
“South Dublin County Council’s proposed mission is to drastically increase the number of people who chose to cycle every week by providing people with a well-connected, well designed, and safe cycle network that offers people a credible alternative to using their car.”
To find out what the community thinks, South Dublin County Council this week opened a public consultation stage on its draft Cycle South Dublin programme, which will run until December 18.
The council is encouraging people to engage with the consultation stage, and to all take part in a live webinar event at 7pm on Wednesday, November 25.
The council confirmed that it is also working closely with the National Transport Authority (NTA) to “determine how best these projects can be funded, designed and delivered”.
To read the draft Cycle South Dublin programme and learn about the proposed 41 projects, visit www.sdcc.ie or https://consult.sdublincoco.ie.
Take part in the live webinar at 7pm on Wednesday, November 25, at https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/our-council/live-events.
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