Bray Seafront; Good & Bad.

fortwilliam

Following on from the playground thread, I do agree that the council are doing a good job on the maintenance of the grass, play area, gym equipment and general upkeep, however I have to say I have been dumbfounded by some of the idiotic decisions made;
- The beautiful and very expensive lighting along the promenade.. They decided to hammer cheap "woodies" number plates onto each one, nothing short of stupid vandalism.
- The complete mess that has been made of the seating, so bad a job that it is being re-done already after starting to fall apart.
- The lack of enforcement around the sealife building, disgusting stinking commercial wheeley bins piled up at the tourist information point, crumpling facade.
- The pointless cycle lane that starts and ends nowhere that is and will never be used, that really looks like spending a budget as quick as possible.
- The solar bins, suffice to say, if you have opened the "Hatch" to use them, you know what I mean.
- the €1 charge to use the telescopes.. Either install them for the enjoyment of all or don't, we shouldn't put a charge on them, just like we don't have a charge to use the gym equipment or playground.

I just feel that so much good work has been done and then a few little things take the "shine" off it.
Interested to hear other views...

NobodyImportant

Agreed. Some great initiatives and some absolute messes.

When they were plastering around the benches I laughed. Those original lime walls cannot be covered in concrete or they will crack, which is exactly what is happening.

The cycle lane is a joke. I don't know what they were thinking. What a waste of taxpayers money.

Playground is great and apart from busy weekends (when they really need to supply more bins), the upkeep is pretty good.

zoobizoo

NobodyImportant wrote: »

The cycle lane is a joke. I don't know what they were thinking. What a waste of taxpayers money.

The original idea was a good one - but then the councilors bolloxed it up according to the then labour councillor, Ronan McManus. http://www.labour.ie/ronanmcmanus/news/13488402399967149.html

"The original plan contained two sections of cycle track, running alongside the promenade (without taking any space from the promenade itself), which were designed to provide cyclists with a view of the sea as they enjoyed the seafront. Both of these sections have now been removed from the plan, and are no longer an option that can be considered by members of the public."

The problem is that the councilors have little or no training in planning and you can't teach aesthetics - there is no overall vision for the seafront so everything is done piecemeal fashion.

fortwilliam

zoobizoo wrote: »

"The original plan contained two sections of cycle track, running alongside the promenade (without taking any space from the promenade itself), which were designed to provide cyclists with a view of the sea as they enjoyed the seafront. Both of these sections have now been removed from the plan, and are no longer an option that can be considered by members of the public."
.

It looks like they are now installing second pointless and massively expensive strip along the south promenade, all this will achieve is reducing car parking space and narrowing the road...

zoobizoo

I fear that it won't be used.

The road, as is, is fine for cyclists, I am one. It's wide and one way. What is needed on that road is for it to be relaid and the speed bumps fixed.

It seems to be more a case being able to say that Bray has a cycling network.

murpho999

zoobizoo wrote: »

I fear that it won't be used.

The road, as is, is fine for cyclists, I am one. It's wide and one way. What is needed on that road is for it to be relaid and the speed bumps fixed.

It seems to be more a case being able to say that Bray has a cycling network.

What's wrong with that?

I think the seafront would be a lot better if there was less cars on it. Can't budge in the place for cars in the summer.

zoobizoo

Nothing wrong with having a cycle network...

The difference is being able to say "we have a cycle network" and being able to say "we have a cycle network that is used / practical".

I cycle in Bray and the seafront is never a problem. The main problem is people parking in cycle lanes in other parts of the town.

The amount of money spent and work being done could, in my opinion, have been better spent elsewhere.

The cycle lane on the north end is barely used by cyclists... I don't see this one being used any more than that.

If they had kept to the original plan of it being up at the railings I would see merit in it.

Macy0161

zoobizoo wrote: »

Nothing wrong with having a cycle network...

The difference is being able to say "we have a cycle network" and being able to say "we have a cycle network that is used / practical".

I cycle in Bray and the seafront is never a problem. The main problem is people parking in cycle lanes in other parts of the town.

The amount of money spent and work being done could, in my opinion, have been better spent elsewhere.

The cycle lane on the north end is barely used by cyclists... I don't see this one being used any more than that.

If they had kept to the original plan of it being up at the railings I would see merit in it.

I think this sums up cycle lanes/ paths/ networks in most of the state - all about being able to say we've provided x amount of cycle lanes, rather than them actually functioning for cyclists, or other road users.

zoobizoo

Macy0161 wrote: »

I think this sums up cycle lanes/ paths/ networks in most of the state - all about being able to say we've provided x amount of cycle lanes, rather than them actually functioning for cyclists, or other road users.

Yep.

I just noticed last night that there are no markings on the lane on the North end to show that is is a cycle lane and when you get to the end of it, cars are parked blocking you from entering the road... it's like that every weekend with cars parked up on the mud/grass..

If you ever look at the bike racks at the Barracuda- they are never even half full.

fortwilliam

I find it very difficult to understand how the authorities can justify a massive spend on an unneeded, unwanted and what will be unused pointless cycle highway that starts nowhere and goes nowhere when only yards away is a disgraceful environmental disaster;


http://www.independent.ie/regionals/braypeople/news/old-dump-being-washed-into-sea-34337957.html

fjon

Is that dump in Bray, or Shankill? It's definitely in County Dublin.