Dunnes Depot

Corsendonk

I just drove by the site for the new Dunnes Central Distribution Depot(where the Chuck Wagon parks) today. I noticed that they have started to put a roundabout there but what caught my eye was the lovely new path they built for pedestarians with a green strip between that and the road. Now would it have made more sense for FCC to ask them to put in a section of cycle lane there instead of the green strip?

Martron

well the road form blakes cross is not great for cyclists.( i could imagine that being quite bad for a commute on a nice winter morn) and then negotiating the roundabouts to the r132 a bit tricky too.

so whats the point on having a brand new cycle lane for 200 metres if it leads to roads which are not great for cycling on?

surely you should ask why fingal are not investing in a cycle corridor to the local hubs like swords, donabate, lusk , rush and skerries?

i would imagine the reason why there is not much in the way of cycle lanes around the place is because the some of the roads are not safe enough for large volume of cyclists.

Corsendonk

Well if you encourage all new large developments to encorporate a cycle lane in front of them your half were there to improving your cycle system. Then the council only has to connect each section together. Its advanced planning, but will pay off in time. Course we could spend taxpayers money putting it in at a later date.

Alot of cyclists do use that road especially if your cycling from Swords unless you go via Balheary or Ballyboughal and 40fts between Tesco and the Dunnes depot aint going to improve road safety for cyclists there.

Martron

i agree we need more cycle lanes.
and your idea is great with having to install them with new development . but how many years behind will the goverment be?

i just think it could possibly create more of a problem. where people would see some lanes and decided to use them but find themselves using dangerous roads ( possible beyond their capability) and getting injured.

Corsendonk

Hopefully the new reg for a mandatory 23 approved driver instructor lessons before sitting a driving test might improve drivers interaction with cyclists. I await the recommendation for the 10 yearly resit of your driving test for everyone, that should be fun if it ever happens.

That road is a hell of alot better than it use to be. Leo prob be able to fill you in on what it was like before the dual carriage way but the farmers from north dublin use to stop off in the estuary pub (think it was the big tree then) returning from the market and have a few drinks before driving down it and it also had all the traffic going to drogheda, dundalk and belfast.

How do you test cyclists competence???? I noticed a few comments about cyclists capability? Its a bike. Its governed by the rules of the road too.

Martron

ha ha yeah we would be in trouble.

i meant that there would be cycle lanes and then rough road. when people thinking they will be grand on the cycle lane then go on to the road which thay may not feel safe on and could cause an accident and be injured.

we would be in serious trouble if someone decided to drive on a cycle lane ( although......... buses do it daily in the city)

Beasty

That bit of road will be a minimum of two lanes. I recall the original plan was to have a "bus corridor" using what is now the hard shoulder down towards the M1 roundabout. If any facility for busses remains in the plan, this will double up for cyclists.

I have to admit that bit of road has been a complete nightmare for cyclists in recent years. the hard shoulder is actually more dangerous than the road in many places (indeed I refuse to use the hard shoulder for many stretches of that road because of the dangers). I am sure the new road will have adequate facilities for cyclists, and certainly will be a vast improvement on what we have had to put up with.

I'm looking forward to them getting this road sorted - even now I tend to fly past the slow-moving vehicles all the way up to Blakes Cross on my way home, and with a decent bit of tarmac to cycle on I should be getting home even quicker:)

BTW, it is legal to drive in most cycle lanes (only those with unbroken white lines prohibit general traffic).

dcr22B

I hope they hurry up and finish the roundabout quickly as it's adding 10 minutes to the commute home with traffic nearly back up to the Lissenhall M1 junction!

LeoB

Corsendonk wrote: »

Hopefully the new reg for a mandatory 23 approved driver instructor lessons before sitting a driving test might improve drivers interaction with cyclists. I await the recommendation for the 10 yearly resit of your driving test for everyone, that should be fun if it ever happens.

That road is a hell of alot better than it use to be. Leo prob be able to fill you in on what it was like before the dual carriage way but the farmers from north dublin use to stop off in the estuary pub (think it was the big tree then) returning from the market and have a few drinks before driving down it and it also had all the traffic going to drogheda, dundalk and belfast.

How do you test cyclists competence???? I noticed a few comments about cyclists capability? Its a bike. Its governed by the rules of the road too.

I remember that old road very well indeed. If you missed the bus from school the place to get a lift was at Lawless's yard down from the courthouse. Its amazing looking back that it was the main Road between Dublin and Belfast. If lorries slowed down enough you could hop on the back and get alift to Rush. Bit of a bummer in the morning when you were hoping to miss the bus and miss the first few classes.

I dont know how cyclists cope with that stretch of road from Blakes X to the dual carrigway as its been in an awful state for about 25 years.

Colud companies like Dunnes and Tesco who both have massive facilities not be levied aside from the levies that are in place towards the development of cycle tracks?

Beasty

LeoB wrote: »

I dont know how cyclists cope with that stretch of road from Blakes X to the dual carrigway as its been in an awful state for about 25 years.

They have resurfaced part of the southbound section recently, which has improved that stretch significantly. Previously you simply had to work your way through the potholes and uneven repairs. Tbh, because cyclists often know the state of road they take more care round that area. A bit further down, towards the M1 roundabout, where the hard shoulder has actually quite a good quality surface, I was completely taken by surprise last year by a very poor road repair, which sent me over the handlebars, and into the Beaumont for 4 days!

LeoB

I was talking to a motorcyclist today and he reckons in Fingal we have the worst roads. He tours quite a bit and says once you hit roads in Fingal it becomes dangerous, potholes and bad repair jobs are all over the place.

With so many people cycling I cant understand how we dont have more cycle ways.

Beasty

LeoB wrote: »

I was talking to a motorcyclist today and he reckons in Fingal we have the worst roads. He tours quite a bit and says once you hit roads in Fingal it becomes dangerous, potholes and bad repair jobs are all over the place.

With so many people cycling I cant understand how we dont have more cycle ways.

I started racing this year, and the roads we use in the Swords League are quite poor. By contrast I have done some races with the Irish Veterans Cyclists Association, who mainly use roads in Co Meath, which tend to be far superior quality. Last winter made things far worse, and unfortunately the cheap repairs made to some of the potholes have created more dangers to cyclists. It won't get much better either, as the repairs they have done are so poor they are likely to disintegrate during the next cold spell

In terms of cycle lanes, unfortunately there are relatively few of us who cycle/commute long distances in Fingal, and when you get away from the built-up areas we can only rely on hard shoulders and bus lanes.

There is another problem with cycle lanes - they are usually badly maintained, and attract broken bottles and other hazards. I am actually relatively relaxed using the roads myself, as I actually find them safer than cycle lanes