Brilliant, just build the thing please don’t let me wait 20 years for this. Skerries to Malahide will be fun
It’s perhaps a little confusing in that there are a few different networks floating around, even on that map of the plan. This is specifically focused on the light blue corridors, although there is some overlap with proposed greenways and other routes (and vice versa, like Fermoy-Mallow: proposed greenway but not NCN). This is on top of (or perhaps, in conjunction with) other networks like the city/metropolitan area based ones that have been prepared over the last few years.
On first read, there seems to be a good emphasis on segregated infrastructure (although some worrying mentions of sharing road space). There had been some suggestions previously of “greyways”, that basically you’d paint a load of hard shoulders. Quick way of increasing the kilometres of cycle/active travel routes, but would do fuck all for safety, considering that’s basically the de facto situation currently. So this does sound better than that.
Mainly follows the National road network, as one might expect.
Well considering Ryan initiated a review of the defunct railway lines that is holding up the rosslare to Waterford Greenway.
So that one section won’t be built for at least 5 years but more likely 10.
I think the chances of seeing a good proportion of this realised are practically zero.
>The Department said that it expects that local authorities will build most of the network.
This would be my biggest concern. Local authorities in most of the country have little interest in cycling infrastructure at best, and at worst are actively hostile.
Indeed the only way I’d trust it as a delivery model is if central government decided to, for example, make transport funding to local authorities for stuff they do care about contingent on and proportional to the amount of segregated cycle lanes they’ve built.
Currently their incentives are completely against cycling – not least because of the revenue made by LAs from on street parking. If it’s left to them to deliver without a change of incentives they simply won’t do it.
Cant use it theres a bumpy bit.
3,500KM? Jesus, that must be close to a LOT of NIMBYS! Good luck though.
This will really help folk who have ro travel 4 hours for a ten min hospital appointment in dublin when we are all forced to use electric cars with shitty infrastructure.
Does somebody have a fetish against linking up West Dublin or something?
I’m sceptical people will actually use it for commuting and such especially in the countryside. Would it not be better to focus more heavily on radial routes going into towns and cities rather than linking up the whole country? You could then put the money saved into bus services which are probably a better transport option for the countryside
The ironic thing is by the time they’re finished the pedal cycle will be a thing of the past. All I see young people on now are escooters, electric bikes and battery assisted bikes.
I hope they learn the lessons from building of the UK’s National Cycle Network.
Although it appears to have been a massive success, that success came at the cost of a lot of charities and community groups who found themselves in a situation where where they were going to have a cycle track built on their land and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.
I was involved with the Foyle Valley Railwayup in Derry when one day we got a letter from them saying they were building the cycle track next to our heritage railway line and that they needed us to move 3 and 1/2 miles of railway track 3 ft sideways and it had to be done within 6-months. When we laughed at that and told them that it would cost millions, they threaten to come in and bulldoze the entire track and then bill us for.it. Luckily after speaking to a few MPs and people like that we were able to come to a workable arrangement that didn’t involve moving three-and-a-half miles of railway track.
Our experience was far from unique, a lot of heritage railways had this problem but also a lot of groups working in environmental projects and sports. They unfortunately found themselves on on the path of the National Cycle Network and and there was little they could do about it.
J5 ust moved to a rural town.. Great to see new cycleways, but I would hope it could be more locally targetted . i.e mandate perhaps that 5k of radius from all schools or places of leisure should have safe or quiet routes. This would ensure that parents and kids see this as a real option for going to school on.
14 comments
Brilliant, just build the thing please don’t let me wait 20 years for this. Skerries to Malahide will be fun
It’s perhaps a little confusing in that there are a few different networks floating around, even on that map of the plan. This is specifically focused on the light blue corridors, although there is some overlap with proposed greenways and other routes (and vice versa, like Fermoy-Mallow: proposed greenway but not NCN). This is on top of (or perhaps, in conjunction with) other networks like the city/metropolitan area based ones that have been prepared over the last few years.
On first read, there seems to be a good emphasis on segregated infrastructure (although some worrying mentions of sharing road space). There had been some suggestions previously of “greyways”, that basically you’d paint a load of hard shoulders. Quick way of increasing the kilometres of cycle/active travel routes, but would do fuck all for safety, considering that’s basically the de facto situation currently. So this does sound better than that.
Mainly follows the National road network, as one might expect.
Feedback survey link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=tFrtFlkrQE6AbYowvcnPJmebDY8_fc9Lg8hUFzpl65ZUMEJaRFBFQUIzUERQU0M0SDlRM0xWN1JTVS4u
Reviled..
Well considering Ryan initiated a review of the defunct railway lines that is holding up the rosslare to Waterford Greenway.
So that one section won’t be built for at least 5 years but more likely 10.
I think the chances of seeing a good proportion of this realised are practically zero.
>The Department said that it expects that local authorities will build most of the network.
This would be my biggest concern. Local authorities in most of the country have little interest in cycling infrastructure at best, and at worst are actively hostile.
Indeed the only way I’d trust it as a delivery model is if central government decided to, for example, make transport funding to local authorities for stuff they do care about contingent on and proportional to the amount of segregated cycle lanes they’ve built.
Currently their incentives are completely against cycling – not least because of the revenue made by LAs from on street parking. If it’s left to them to deliver without a change of incentives they simply won’t do it.
Cant use it theres a bumpy bit.
3,500KM? Jesus, that must be close to a LOT of NIMBYS! Good luck though.
This will really help folk who have ro travel 4 hours for a ten min hospital appointment in dublin when we are all forced to use electric cars with shitty infrastructure.
Does somebody have a fetish against linking up West Dublin or something?
I’m sceptical people will actually use it for commuting and such especially in the countryside. Would it not be better to focus more heavily on radial routes going into towns and cities rather than linking up the whole country? You could then put the money saved into bus services which are probably a better transport option for the countryside
The ironic thing is by the time they’re finished the pedal cycle will be a thing of the past. All I see young people on now are escooters, electric bikes and battery assisted bikes.
I hope they learn the lessons from building of the UK’s National Cycle Network.
Although it appears to have been a massive success, that success came at the cost of a lot of charities and community groups who found themselves in a situation where where they were going to have a cycle track built on their land and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.
I was involved with the Foyle Valley Railwayup in Derry when one day we got a letter from them saying they were building the cycle track next to our heritage railway line and that they needed us to move 3 and 1/2 miles of railway track 3 ft sideways and it had to be done within 6-months. When we laughed at that and told them that it would cost millions, they threaten to come in and bulldoze the entire track and then bill us for.it. Luckily after speaking to a few MPs and people like that we were able to come to a workable arrangement that didn’t involve moving three-and-a-half miles of railway track.
Our experience was far from unique, a lot of heritage railways had this problem but also a lot of groups working in environmental projects and sports. They unfortunately found themselves on on the path of the National Cycle Network and and there was little they could do about it.
J5 ust moved to a rural town.. Great to see new cycleways, but I would hope it could be more locally targetted . i.e mandate perhaps that 5k of radius from all schools or places of leisure should have safe or quiet routes. This would ensure that parents and kids see this as a real option for going to school on.