Cycle paths = Irish joke.

EileenG

Who is responsible for planning cycle paths? They are just an Irish joke.

Today I was exploring some new roads round Swords, and was aiming in the general direction of Malahide. I found a road which looked as if it was heading for the motorway, but there was a big two-way cycle path on it, so obviously it went somewhere else as well.

NO IT DIDN'T. I followed the cyclepath and found myself on the bloody M1. No joke. Believe me, trying to get back off a motorway, up a slip road in the face of lots of oncoming traffic, was not fun. I checked very carefully, and there was no other way off that cycle path except the motorway.

Ghost Rider

Write to Dublin City Council. I wrote to them about a pothole recently and they had it filled within ten days. Obviously a cycle track is a different matter, but you've nothing to lose.

EDIT: Actually, it's probably Fingal County Council you want. No idea what they're like. If they don't reply, try your local TD.

EileenG wrote: »

Who is responsible for planning cycle paths? They are just an Irish joke.

Today I was exploring some new roads round Swords, and was aiming in the general direction of Malahide. I found a road which looked as if it was heading for the motorway, but there was a big two-way cycle path on it, so obviously it went somewhere else as well.

NO IT DIDN'T. I followed the cyclepath and found myself on the bloody M1. No joke. Believe me, trying to get back off a motorway, up a slip road in the face of lots of oncoming traffic, was not fun. I checked very carefully, and there was no other way off that cycle path except the motorway.

studiorat

EileenG wrote: »

NO IT DIDN'T. I followed the cyclepath and found myself on the bloody M1. No joke. Believe me, trying to get back off a motorway, up a slip road in the face of lots of oncoming traffic, was not fun. I checked very carefully, and there was no other way off that cycle path except the motorway.

Brilliant! Gotta get a picture...

cyclopath2001

Ghost Rider wrote: »

EDIT: Actually, it's probably Fingal County Council you want. No idea what they're like. If they don't reply, try your local TD.

There are quite a few 'road to nowhere' cycle tracks in Fingal. Usually they don't use the statutory road signs for them.

But to answer your question, nobody is 'responsible' for cycle tracks in any proper meaning of the word. And as to responsibility for promoting cycling and cyclist comfort and safety.....dream on.

mikemac

If you cycle from Baldoyle to Malahide, there a few small cycle tracks.

But two of them have kerbs right in front of them, they never bothered to lower the kerb. On example is the roundabout outside massive The Coast estate in Baldoyle on the Coast Rd.

So you either bunny-hop which tbh I not realy confident doing on a racer or you unclip and climb onto the cycle lane and then use it.

Who designed a cycle lane that cyclists can't even get onto?

kenmc

I'm pretty sure that it's no coincidence that cycle tracks are often painted red, to warn cyclists of the imminent danger they pose. I usually try and find routes which don't have cycle tracks. That way I can't be yelled at to get on it.

DirkVoodoo

Much of the N11 cycle track I cannot cycle on using my road bike, especially the "off road" features they included around driveways, or the constant stream of trucks and vans pulling up onto them. My new favourite is where they have made a bus lay-by opposite the galloping green, so instead of continous track, you have the possibility of a bus driver pulling in in front of you causing a nasty spill.

seamus

Is this it by any chance?

Stark

Haha. It's like someone had a meeting to try and come up with solutions to the "cyclist problem". Reminds me of my first time cycling down North Strand Road, naively and blindly following the cycle path until I found myself dumped into the middle of the road between two lanes of trucks, at which point the cycle path terminated.

peterk19

micmclo wrote: »

If you cycle from Baldoyle to Malahide, there a few small cycle tracks.

But two of them have kerbs right in front of them, they never bothered to lower the kerb. On example is the roundabout outside massive The Coast estate in Baldoyle on the Coast Rd.

So you either bunny-hop which tbh I not realy confident doing on a racer or you unclip and climb onto the cycle lane and then use it.

Who designed a cycle lane that cyclists can't even get onto?

haha ive noticed them too there was one on the coast road between Portmarnock and Malahide for a long time altho i noticed last week they recently lowered the kerb altho the cycle lanes been there a few years now

EileenG

seamus wrote: »

Is this it by any chance?

That's it. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw where I was.

EileenG

I used to cycle with a trailer behind my bike as I pulled two children to school. What really pissed me off was that I would have loved to have used cycle paths all the way (normally I'm happy to fight it out with traffic) but there wasn't a single path on the way that I could get onto with the weight of the trailer behind me.

Harpz

Any chance of a photo...
and more long term any chance of everyone sending in the photos of their local "very bad" cycle lanes and their location. If Verb set up a wiki for cycle lanes (fair play Verb on the wiki so far) then we could have a catalogue of all the ****ty cycle lanes and even work out the Local Authority responsible. Could be a fairly powerful stick to beat them with. At the moment I dont think there is a centralised system for reporting them so its just inividual cyclist who get pissed off and of course that doesn't bother the Local authorities at all.

DirkVoodoo

Damn, I was gonna bring my camera today too! Tomorrow...

cyclopath2001

peterk19 wrote: »

haha ive noticed them too there was one on the coast road between Portmarnock and Malahide for a long time altho i noticed last week they recently lowered the kerb altho the cycle lanes been there a few years now

It's a single lane cycle track with a footway beside it. It does not have sign RUS009 or RUS009a signs and has bicycle markers showing in opposite directions at either end.

Latest news is that Dublin City Council is going to provide what it calls an 'advisory cycle track' between the Bull Island causeway and the wooden bridge. This type of cycle track is also known to cyclists as 'shared car/bicycle/truck lane' or 'imaginary cycle track'.

Dirk Gently

seamus wrote: »

Is this it by any chance?

Please tell me you photoshopped that :eek:

Civilian_Target

no... a similar one exists in Belfast, I found myself descending into traffic on the M5 and thought "Hmmm... this is bad..."