Grand Canal path

monument

Tails142 wrote: »

There is a kissing gate here its just out of your photo. This gate is generally always left open.

Case in point. That gate is left opened for cars to access the house.

It's marked as a cycleway -- cars are not legally allowed to use cycleways. Unlike the shared space signs, a cycleway is a mandatory sign showing a route for cyclists which can be used by pedestrians, people running etc, but not cars.

Tails142 wrote: »

This is gate #2 - You will be stopping anyway to use the pedestrian crossing which has been provided?
The Kylemore Road crossing will have two gates (the underpass here seems to be only temporary):

Same goes for other crossings: Stopping at a light is quite different than dismounting, trying one way or another to get a bicycle past a kissing gate, walking cross the road and doing the same again.

Tails142 wrote: »

Crossing the Killeen Road you really get the message this wan't designed for cyclists:
I've never seen that yellow and black barrier closed before, did you close it for the photo? Gate #5 is in the background

WTF? Is that a serious question? But no I did not. I'm guessing that the gate may be closed in the evenings / may be related to access to one of the yards.

While we're asking random accusatory questions:

Are you in any way connected to the councils, Waterways Ireland, the ESB, the construction or design teams, or any providers for the project?

Tails142 wrote: »

And between roads (between the Ninth Lock Road and the R136:
This is gate #8 just beside the green area at Kilcronan estate

What about having a secure a wall / fence / land bank beside the route?

Tails142 wrote: »

The whole cycle path is 8.5 kilometres long with a total of 10 gates if you cycle the full distance -

Ah, yes there are 12 gates or barriers or whatever you want to call them.

Opened gate
At the start the Inchicore side at the Nass Road

Closed gate #1
Between the Nass Road and the Kylemore Road

Closed gate #2
At the Kylemore Road

Closed gate #3
At the Kylemore Road – maybe I’m wrong, but the underpass looks to be temporary note the under. By the looks of it any permanent design here wouldn’t be the best and would not be very attractive.

Closed gate #4
Just before the Killeen Road

Closed gate #5
At the Killeen Road

Closed gate #6
The yellow and black barrier at Killeen Road – apparently not always closed!? Full dismount not required for everybody, but likely for some

Closed gate #7
Just after the Killeen Road – my mistake for not including the photo in my first post, but it is just behind the yellow and black barrier

Closed gate #8
At the Ninth Lock Road

Closed gate #9
At the Ninth Lock Road

Closed gate #10
Between between the Ninth Lock Road and R136

Closed gate #11
Just after the R136

Closed gate #12
The last gate, a bit before the Lock Road

Here's the photo I missed in my last post:

Tails142 wrote: »

...and maybe not everyone who uses the path for commuting will cycle the full route every day,

If a cyclists is going up and down the route in one day -- for recreation, commuting etc -- that's 22 or 24 gates per day.

Plus one gate for anybody getting off the route where there is not a crossing (ie Adamstown etc). Even if somebody is only going half way and back in one day, that's around 12 gates.

Tails142 wrote: »

several of the gates are either side of a road beside pedestrian crossings where you would be stopping anyway to wait for a break in traffic/lights to change.

As I've said above, there's quite some difference between just stopping and both stopping and using a kissing gate.

Tails142 wrote: »

I dont see the major issue here, there are always cyclists that prefer to use on road facilities rather than off road facilities, generally commuting cyclists. I myself much prefer to use on road facilities as cars are far more predictable than pedestrians but that's another topic.

This is a shared cycle pedestrian/pathway and I believe its primary goal was to cater for twin ESB 110kV ducting/cabling and as a secondary convenience to improve the canal towpath and encourage people to come onto the banks. IMO MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

The waste of State funds.

Two local authorities against, one state agency (even if it is cross border), and one semi State company going against Government policy.

There's a whole host of extra costs because of the standard and width of the path (mostly if not fully for cyclists), all nothing to do with the ducting.

Tails142 wrote: »

All users of the path especially cyclists , whether they're just out for a sunday cycle or commuting to work wont be enjoying themselves if there are scumbags flying up and down the paths on scramblers to see how fast they can go which you would have seen every day on the canal towpath in clondalkin and up towards lucan. Or the horses and jarveys racing up and down, which you will still see on the north bank of the canal if you go to the 9th lock on the weekend. They just lift the jarveys up over the bollards that are there.

If somebody came up with a gate that stopped or at least acted as a proper deterrent to horses and scramblers, allowed pedestrians, bicycles and wheelchairs through then it would be used. But it doesnt exist so this is what's called a 'compromise' to make sure everyones interests are catered for.

Just as a P.S. I did watch a group of knackers take a horse through one of the kissing gates the other week, it took them a few minutes to get all its legs in the right place but eventually they managed it. If you can get a horse through you can get a fk'in bike through.

Sorry, but you're talking nonsense here, the route needs to be policed. Gates won't stop anybody. I've seen motorbikes / scramblers being put in and out of kissing gates and you say you're seen a horse being put through one. And if somebody can lift something over bollards then they can lift it over a kissing gate.

And I'm still unsure how "especially cyclists" when the gates inconvenience cyclists more than most users and the kissing gates disallow many cyclists -- those with panniers, oversizes bicycles, people unable to lift their bikes without great difficulty, parents with child seats on their bikes, those with trailers, tandems, cargo bikes etc.

dimo

Are the people in this country going insane, or what????????

"This is a shared cycle pedestrian/pathway "

For safety reasons you build barriers and at the same time you share same track between bicycles and pedestrians????????

Why not share railways for cycling? It is safer, at least for the train commuters

Another pile of millions spent for great idea, and with useless result.
Who did benefit from this insane expenditure? Where is the finance control.

Rover09

I was talking to the man opening the Inchicore gate at midday and he seemed to be very conscious of the discussion on this site. I gathered from him that one of the main aims of the gates was to keep horses off. As an earlier poster commented, this has not been totally successful since you can see the hoof prints on the yellow stone surface (and horse droppings) on one stretch.

While I am finding that the new path is a great place to walk a pram, the gates are a bit awkward even for that. I wonder too about their effect on electric wheelchair/strollers, since the immaculate surface would otherwise make the new path a good place for disabled and older people. Of course cyclists have the main problem since, in the nature of things, they will be going further and crossing more gates.

Perhaps the easiest thing at this stage would be to experiment with leaving some of the gates open, particularly at peak times. After all, there are all those CCTV cameras to see what happens and the gates could be shut again at times when it proved necessary.

On another note, when I cycled the whole length on the first day, one of the two pedestrian crossing lights (9th Lock?) seemed to be out of order. Does anyone else feel this?

Pigeon Reaper

They could do the same as Fairview park and lock the gates at night and open them early in the morning. The problem is fairview has two gates and park wardens are based in the park while the new path would require a person to go around each day to perform this task specifically. It would be nice to see how it would work out.

anotherlostie

Rover09 wrote: »

I was talking to the man opening the Inchicore gate at midday and he seemed to be very conscious of the discussion on this site. I gathered from him that one of the main aims of the gates was to keep horses off. As an earlier poster commented, this has not been totally successful since you can see the hoof prints on the yellow stone surface (and horse droppings) on one stretch.

While I am finding that the new path is a great place to walk a pram, the gates are a bit awkward even for that. I wonder too about their effect on electric wheelchair/strollers, since the immaculate surface would otherwise make the new path a good place for disabled and older people. Of course cyclists have the main problem since, in the nature of things, they will be going further and crossing more gates.

Perhaps the easiest thing at this stage would be to experiment with leaving some of the gates open, particularly at peak times. After all, there are all those CCTV cameras to see what happens and the gates could be shut again at times when it proved necessary.

On another note, when I cycled the whole length on the first day, one of the two pedestrian crossing lights (9th Lock?) seemed to be out of order. Does anyone else feel this?

I haven't seen any horses on it since the gates were closed. In relation to the pedestrian lights, these were only switched on in the last week or two.

Cycling it only really bothers me at the Killeen Rd point where you have to pass through three kissing gates, the black/yellow barrier (this must be something to do with the yard with the dogs) and cross the road - it is quicker to dismount and walk the bike (or cycle if there's nobody on it) down the narrow path under Killeen road and back up the other side, eliminating three of the five movements. Otherwise I'd rather be on the path from Inchicore to Adamstown than in traffic and getting stopped at lights.

tomasrojo

Rover09 wrote: »

Perhaps the easiest thing at this stage would be to experiment with leaving some of the gates open, particularly at peak times. After all, there are all those CCTV cameras to see what happens and the gates could be shut again at times when it proved necessary.

This seems a very good point to me. They certainly have a lot of potential combinations to play around with.

Pigeon Reaper

some good news

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0805/transport.html

Liam_Flag

"A spokeswoman for South Dublin County Council said there had been anti-social problems on the 8.5km track which runs from near Lucan to Inchicore before its official opening."

There was a couple of incidents alright..a motorbike was burned out on the track causing damage to the addastone which is quite costly to repair.

RustyNut

Pigeon Reaper wrote: »

some good news

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0805/transport.html

Yay:D:D

silas_flannery

Cycled the entire route from Inchicore to Lucan (and back) on Saturday afternoon 21/08/2010. 3 of the gates were open which is a slight improvement.

Met plenty of kids on horseback - including one who was texting and oblivious to my presence on my bike.
Having cycled the route just after it opened I have noticed that it has deteriorated a little, i.e. horse dung everywhere, fires have been lit along the path etc.
Most of the poles with connecting cable which are along the route (for whatever purpose I don't know) have been cut down.

It's a great facility but obviously the CCTV is not acting as a deterrent for anti social behavior

pcomer

Hi all, just resurrecting this thread as I use this path cycle path quiet regularly and still have a few issues and would be interested to see what others think.

1) Major Gripe with gates still. They have removed the Kissing Gates and replaced them with a gap with "flaps" on either side of it. On my road bike I still have to come to a complete stop to get through these and sometimes use my feet as support as I'm going through them. They are an improvement on the Kissing Gates but are still pretty cyclist unfriendly (and infuriating to use).

2) Medium Gripe: They should have made the underpass under the bridge on Kylemore road permanent. That you have to wait at a pedestrian crossing seems a bit strange on a cycle path.

3) Minor Gripe: The yellow stone surface of the path is actually crap to cycle on. I don't understand why they didn't tarmac it as thats a lot easier to cycle on.

Anyone else argree/disagree? The whole project has had the hallmarks of being designed by someone who has never cycled around a city before.