Cyclist.ie made a submission to Fingal County Council this week (on 7th July 2021) on the non-statutory consultation on the Royal Canal Urban Greenway, 12th Lock to Kildare Border. For anyone less familiar with the stretch, it runs westwards from the 12th Lock, located quite near the junction of the M50 with the N3 (Navan Road).

The overarching point in our submission is that we are fully supportive of the emerging preferred route along the north bank of the Royal Canal, that connects directly with the already agreed section from the Kildare Border to Maynooth.

Cyclist.ie supports the proposed North Bank Route because:

1  It is simpler, easier, and more economical to construct 
2  It is less invasive of natural areas and protects the rich natural environment of the existing south bank
3  It provides greater access to more people than a potential south bank route, which is severed from housing by the main railway line
4 It permits any plans for the DART+ project to advance separately along the greater part of its length
5  It retains the characterful walking paths along the Deep Sinking section
6  It avoids the huge engineering works that would destroy the environment along the South bank.

You can read a copy of our full submission below.

You can see the documentation issued by FCC to which we responded at this link here: https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/royal-canal-urban-greenway

You can read Dublin Cycling Campaign’s web page on the topic here: https://www.dublincycling.com/cycling/royal-canal-greenway-needs-your-support 

1.0     Introduction

Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network (ICAN), is the federation of Cycling Advocacy Groups, Greenway Groups, and Bike Festivals on the island of Ireland. Cyclist.ie is the Irish member of the European Cyclists’ Federation (https://ecf.com/). Our vision is that cycling will be a normal part of transport and everyday life in Ireland.

We commend Fingal CC for the advancement of this vital piece of commuter and leisure cycling/walking route, as part of the Dublin to Galway cross country greenway and the European EuroVelo Route 2 – https://en.eurovelo.com/ev2/ireland

We are fully supportive of the emerging preferred route along the north bank of the Royal Canal, that connects directly with the already agreed section from the Kildare Border to Maynooth.  This Greenway Route has the potential to provide a high-quality, safe, walking and cycling path for commuters, local residents, and visitors alike, and will ultimately link up with Greenway and commuter routes eastwards into Dublin City and westwards to the River Shannon. It is bound to encourage greater active commuter travel by bike, will undoubtedly attract more visitors to the area, and on its eastern end will serve as a commuter cycle route to and from a number of high employment locations in West Dublin and Dublin City.

We note that the present consultation phase is a non-statutory consultation, and we look forward to the final detailed development of the proposed route in due course? 

We also have a number of specific comments and issues, which we outline below in subsequent sections.

2.0 General Comments

2.1 Choice of North Bank Route

Cyclist.ie fully endorses the choice of the route on the North Bank for the following reasons:
1  It is simpler, easier, and more economical to construct 

2  It is less invasive of natural areas and protects the rich natural environment of the existing south bank

3  It provides greater access to more people than a potential south bank route, which is severed from housing by the main railway line

4  It permits any plans for the DART+ project to advance separately along the greater part of its length.

5  It retains the characterful walking paths along the Deep Sinking section

6  it avoids the huge engineering works that would destroy the environment along the South bank

2.2 Surface Proposals

On a major potential commuter and leisure cycle route such as this Royal Canal section, the necessary surface should be a bituminous tarmacadam (asphaltic concrete) surface for its full length. Recent research suggests that a bituminous surface is also more environmentally friendly than a loose grit/dust surface.  Bituminous surfacing is the preferred type of surface by cyclists in general, but also for wheelchair and pram users.  It is also the preferred surface type recommended in the TII ‘Rural Cycleway Design – DN-GEO-03047’ document. This should be made clear in any future design statements.

2.3 Route Width

We are delighted to see the proposed width standard of at least 4 metres, and only be reduced to 3 metres in areas of constraint, and in the rural sections. It could be aiming for 5m wherever possible, especially closer to built up areas from Clonsilla onwards into the city centre. 

In the more high volume locations, such as between the 12th Lock and Diswellstown Road/Dr Troy Bridge, the design team might consider an alternate to the standard shared pathway. A segregated path design, with the cycle track at a lower level than the footpath would reduce conflicts in the more high volume usage area. Here below is an image of the Royal Canal within Dublin City Council’s area for a high-volume area.

2.4 Access and Road Crossing Design Details

On the basis of the drawings exhibited it appears that there will be no use of restrictive access gates along the length of the route, as there are no details supplied for access gates on to the route.  Cyclist.ie warmly welcomes this decision, which will encourage access by all ages, types and abilities of users.  We assume that any potential access gates will, at the very least, comply with the recommended design given in Rural Cycleway Design – DN-GEO-03047.  We favour clear unobstructed access.  Photo montages of any proposed access gates would be particularly useful at further detailed design stage, as connections and road crossings all along the route raise a number of fairly standard safety issues. 

2.5 Multi Access Proposals

Despite objections from a number of residents in the area of Brompton and Delwood estates in the Coolmine area, we are happy to see a number of potential access points highlighted from nearby roadways and housing estates where most of the proposed route is located.  In the future we feel that  these residents will recognise the real benefits of having these access points.  Fingal CC need to ensure that this proposed greenway is also accessible from densely populated areas to the south of the canal. This will necessarily involve re-evaluating all roadways and in particular safe cycle facilities in these areas, and general access to the Greenway.

2.6 Lighting and Security

It is critical, not only for local perception and peace of mind, but also for general safety and ability to use the proposed greenway at all times winter and summer, that appropriate lighting (bat friendly) be put in place, particularly in the areas of high residency.  This lighting should also be supplemented with appropriate and effective security monitoring in these areas.

2.7 Park & Ride Access

Consideration might be given to the provision of Park & Ride sites along the route, for multi modal commuters to be able to drive to locations beside the canal, park their car and continue their commute by bicycle, or by train, from that location to their destinations.

2.8 Specific Location Related Points
In our submission to the previous non-statutory consultation process in 2019 Cyclist.ie made a number of specific location related observations.  These were at the following locations:
–  Collins Bridge
–  Hansfield SDZ and potential new rail station
–  Pakenham Bridge
–  Callaghan Bridge
–  Kennan Bridge
–  Sheepmoor Lane

We assume that the issues raised in these areas will be addressed at the detailed design stage due at either Part 8 planning or ABP application stage.

3.0 Summary

Cyclist.ie warmly welcomes this proposal to develop this section of Royal Canal Urban Greenway. We hope that our comments above will be helpful in examining the issues along the proposed route, and we look forward to the publication of the further detailed design at the final planning stage.  Once again we would be happy to meet with the Council and designers at any stage to develop any of the points raised above

Colm Ryder
Chairperson
Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network
http://cyclist.ie/ 
Registered Charity Number (RCN): 20102029
7th July 2021

Cork Cycling Campaign have won the inaugural Active Community Group Award from the Cork Sports Partnership!

There were four categories in the awards: group, campaign, inclusion and champion.

There were lots of entries and three finalists in each group. A short video was made of each group: 

Note that the Cork Cycling Campaign video starts at about 14 minutes.

Cork Cycling Campaign was nominated by the Chairperson, Conn Donovan. 

The Campaign gets a medal, a certificate, some goodies and a hamper! 

Congratulations to all the crew in CCC from Cyclist.ie!

“We have a strategy. We have a team. We’re missing just one thing – you.”

In 2020 the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network Cyclist.ie adopted a new strategy. This strategy sets out the vision, mission, values and strategic aims. It also makes clear who we are, and why we do what we do. Our strategy is a high-level framework that will guide our Council, Executive Committee (EC), volunteers, and the National Cycling Coordinator (NCC) in their work. Its main purpose is to help direct our limited time and energies on what we decide our key aims and objectives are. It is about providing guidance on where we should concentrate our efforts in terms of campaigning priorities and organisational development.

Following the adoption of the strategy, the next challenge was to organise ourselves in a way to enable us to take action and achieve the aims and objectives outlined in the strategy. We’ve now taken the first step by proposing a structure that allows us to handle the ongoing day-to-day operational tasks, whilst progressing our strategic aims. The concept is to create a number of “portfolio groups” that are each responsible for particular areas.

We’ve identified eight portfolio groups, each with the same structure:

• A liaison from the Exec team, and also a non-exec liaison to promote wider involvement from the cycling community
• A set of day-to-day or reactive tasks that this group is responsible for, handling all the many and varied activities that keep Cyclist.ie moving forward
• A set of strategic or planned tasks aimed at delivering on our overall goals

So far, so good. So what parts of the strategy are each of the portfolio groups responsible for?

How we’ll achieve our strategic objectives

After a number of workshops we arrived at the result shown in the table below. Note that our six main strategic aims are shown on the left hand side (each of which has several objectives sitting within it), while our 8 portfolio groups are shown in blue on the top.:

The numbers indicate the number of strategic objectives in each portfolio – noting that the objectives vary widely in scope and scale.

We expect this structure to adapt and evolve over time as we put this into practice, and the first step is to invite you to get involved.

How to get involved

Each portfolio has a liaison from the exec team, and the first job of the liaison is to present their portfolio at the June Council meeting and invite you to get involved. Involvement can be as small or large as you have capacity for, so please get in touch! Shown below are the eight portfolio groups and the liaison person (or persons) associated with each

Cyclist.ie’s newest member group, Drogheda Cycling, has penned the following piece outlining why it came into being and what it is focusing on. Welcome on board!

Hello, Noel Hogan here. I’m the Chairperson of the newly formed Drogheda Cycling group. The group first came into existence as a twitter account (@droghedacycling) before being established as a proper organisation earlier this year. 

Growing up in the 1980s/90s in Ennis in County Clare, bicycles were our ticket to greater freedom. No longer did we need the mammy taxi to bring us to places far away. Looking at my own six year old, I realised that – if something wasn’t done – his childhood would be robbed of this sense of freedom. This led me to reach out to others who wanted to create a safe environment for cyclists (and others) in Drogheda, and this group is the result. 

Our aims are to create a safe environment for cycling in and around Drogheda and to raise the awareness of cycling for all as a practical alternative to car use. Like many towns around Ireland, it would be fair to say Drogheda is not a cycling friendly town – busy roads, a lack of cycling friendly infrastructure – but much the same was said of many European cities until quite recently. I really think Drogheda is primed for a renaissance and our group is going to play a major part in making it a more pleasant, liveable town for everyone.

Our focus this year is to establish and grow our group – we have made submissions to Louth County Council regarding the planned active travel routes for the town and have recently held our first community cycle. We believe that we must be the change we seek – and having regular family friendly cycles is one way to demonstrate the benefits of cycling to all (and being part of Cyclist.ie is a great help in this regard). We hope to broaden our engagement with stakeholders and gain more community support as the year goes on. 

One of the great things about Cyclist.ie is that it allows you to engage with other like minded groups – here in Drogheda we have been happy to engage with the Navan Cycling Initiative and hope to further our engagement as time goes on. It really helps when you can learn how others have approached engaging with local authorities and other stakeholders. 

You can contact Drogheda Cycling via:

Email – [email protected]
Twitter – @droghedacycling
Facebook – /Drogheda-Cycling-102975298149028

Cyclist.ie and all our members are supporting medical aid for Palestine, by cycling next weekend the 19th and 20th of June.  All you have to do is organise your cycle, by yourself or with friends, and collect any small donations which you can donate directly online to the medical relief fund via the link https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/muhannedb.  Cyclist.ie is delighted to support Islamic Relief in this Cycle for Palestine Challenge. These fundraising cycles can be done individually or in groups anywhere in the country. 

For more details see here or the enclosed booklet.

Last September (2020) the Cyclist.ie Rural Cycling Collective officially launched our Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland with the 8 priorities which we believe will enable more people in rural Ireland to cycle more often for everyday journeys.

Since we launched the Vision we are pleased to see changes have been made, linking to each of our 8 priorities. Some of these changes are big, others small but we believe all changes in the right direction are worth celebrating.

Below is a summary of the 8 priorities and what’s happened so far as of mid-2021.

1 – Create an environment in our cities, towns, villages and rural roads where Cyclists are Expected and Respected.

There is a growing recognition that,in addition to dedicated cycle lanes and tracks, there is huge potential to create environments in our urban and rural areas where people on bicycles feel expected and respected. Glimpses of this welcoming environment have been seen in a number of different towns and villages such as Ennis, where they redesigned the streets to create more space for active travel; Clonakilty where they removed motor traffic from some streets; Kilkenny where they introduced traffic calming measures; many towns where they introduced lower speed limits; and across the country where signs such as the 1.5m safe passing distance signs have been installed.

Within and between many towns and villages, cycle friendly infrastructure could include identifying safe routes along the existing smaller rural roads. With extra signage, traffic calming measures and lower speed limits, these “Rothar Roads” would allow people in rural areas to have the opportunity to cycle to schools, shops, work, and amenities knowing that they are ‘expected and respected’ by all road users. Community based projects have been started to identify and map these for example the ‘Share your Rothar Roads project in Leitrim.

2 – Create and map a network of useful, Connected Cycle Routes throughout Local Authority Areas

The Rural Cycling Collective knows that quality network planning is key to quality cycle infrastructure, securing funding, garnering support, promoting cycling as a real alternative and so much more. In December applications opened for a €50M active travel fund for towns and villages, which was subsequently increased to €70million due to the volume of requests. In March the projects were announced. Several counties have received funding for transport studies including: Monaghan where they have drafted a Cycling & Walking Strategy; Kerry, where both Tralee and Kilarney will get interconnected cycleway networks; and Leitrim, where a County Cycle Network Plan Study is being planned. We hope this is the start of network plans being created in every local authority area. 

3 – Implement Best Practice Design to ensure routes are safe and comfortable for cyclists of all ages and abilities

In January the Department of Transport announced the creation of 248 new active travel posts 218 in local Authorities and 30 in TII Regional Design Offices – see the story on our website here. In announcing these posts, Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan said that the new structure for the delivery of active travel is intended to “ ensure that the increased levels of expenditure planned deliver the right type of infrastructure, in the right place and at the right time.”  

The new posts are yet to be filled but the Rural Cycling Collective are pleased to see the emphasis is on creating multi-disciplinary teams that acknowledge the complexity of reallocating road space and the need for not just engineering and architectural skills, but also communication and promotion. We hope that these new posts will help raise standards across the country.

Cyclist.ie also note that the National Transport Authority are expanding their team to ensure they have the capacity for oversight of all the new active travel schemes. Simultaneously a review of the National Cycling Design Manual is being undertaken – another welcome step. 

A team within Cyclist.ie have also been busy the last few months creating an ambitious tool to be used as part of the design process to help ensure that none of the 5 needs of cycle route design (coherence, comfort, directness, attractiveness and safety) are overlooked. The latest prototype is currently being trialled and Cyclist.ie would welcome your feedback. To find out more about the Cycle Route Assessment Checklist (CRAC) and to get involved in trialling it follow this link – https://cyclist.ie/crac/.

4 – Prioritise Safe Cycle Routes to Schools and car free zones at school gates

The school year began optimistically with Cycle Buses popping up and more and more children cycling to school everyday. Some of these were inspired by the Rural Cycling Collective’s Get to School on Your Own Fuel campaign which saw families practising their routes to school before the September rush. 

Safe Routes to Schools became an issue on many people’s minds. In March, Minister of State, Hildegarde Naughton, announced the allocation of €15million for the Safe Routes to School programme – see here. Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have initiated a safe routes to school project with widespread consultation. We look forward to seeing similar schemes in other Local Authorities.

 

5 – Lower Speed Limits to make our roads and streets safer and more accessible for everyone, and to reduce casualties

Lower speed limits are a simple but vital way to make our roads and streets more accessible and safer for children, pedestrians and cyclists.  Love 30, the campaign for 30km speed limits, issued a press release in April, calling on the Minister for Transport to mandate a default 30km per hour speed limit in urban and built-up areas and outside schools – see https://www.love30.ie/call-default-30-kmh-all-urban-areas. 

Kilkenny County Council are set to introduce a Gateways project at the entry points into the city – within this area a 30km/h speed limit is to be applied. Dublin City Council are also introducing reductions in speed limits which again we hope will be an inspiration to local authorities across the country – see here. 

6 – Ensure clear and timely Access to Funding by improving capacity at all levels of local and national government

A few months before the Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland was launched it was announced that the new Programme for Government included a commitment to allocate €360M per year in capital funding to walking and cycling over the next 5 years. This was an exciting announcement and the strongest endorsement towards Active Travel ever seen in Ireland.To find out more about the detail of this commitment check out the full Programme for Government here.

This progressive announcement has been followed up with subsequent rounds of additional funding – further welcome steps forward in the country’s commitment to taking climate action. 

7 – Collaborate with all Stakeholders including cycling and community groups – at all stages of planning and design

If the promises in the Programme for Government are to lead to meaningful change, collaboration with all stakeholders is going to be important – the right people need to be asked the right questions at the right time. 

In Skibbereen, collaboration is happening between cycling activists, councillors, local engineers and the local community.  A  recently formed Greenway group is looking into the permeability of Skibbereen, connecting the town within. Mapping is being developed to link schools and amenity areas with households and shops (for more info contact [email protected]). More information on this can be found by emailing [email protected]. 

Stakeholders have also come together from various organisations in Kilkenny, including Kilkenny County Council, Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, Kilkenny Recreation and Sports Partnership, Healthy Ireland and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) to work collaboratively on the CycleKilkenny project. The group has been working closely with Kilkenny Cycling and Walking Campaign group. See here.    

Cyclist.ie’s ambitious Cycle Route Assessment Checklist (CRAC – http://cyclist.ie/crac/) has the aim of enabling a wider range of stakeholders to get involved in the design process. A perceived lack of ‘technical know-how’ and a lack of time can prevent ordinary people from participating in public consultations and assessments. It is envisaged that this user-friendly checklist will give people a quick, simple and meaningful way of allowing their voices to be heard.  The National Transport Authority and a number of Local Authorities are now trialling this tool.

The Stop Climate Chaos coalition of which Cyclist.ie is a member has been holding a series of workshops about aspects of the Climate Plan. On Tuesday, May 4th the Rural Collective had an opportunity to input to the workshop on Transport. On behalf of the Collective, Joan Swift explained how implementing the Rural Vision could contribute to reducing emissions from transport.  She stressed that in Rural Ireland, as elsewhere many trips currently done by car are short and lend themselves to active travel. Cyclist.ie submission on the Climate Action Plan can be read here: here.    

8 – Provide Cycle Training for all ages, especially children

Under a national program Cycle Right (https://www.cycleright.ie/), is being rolled out across the country, run by Cycling Ireland. 

Cycle Training is an important piece of the jigsaw to build a culture of cycling. It improves bike skills and road awareness. For some children it is the first real opportunity to use a bike. Cycle training combined with quality cycle infrastructure, Safe Routes to schools. and a reduction of speed limits will provide opportunities for young people to gain the confidence they need to be able to cycle safely, not just to school but as they grow and gain more independence, to meet friends, to go to college, to work – it really is a skill for life.  

Outside of schools we have also seen cycle training sessions for families (e.g. the Sligo Cycling Campaign Family Fun Cycle) as well as sessions for teenagers wanting to cycle on road and for parents wanting to steward cycle buses (e.g. the Leitrim Cycling Festival Cycle Confidence Programme).

And finally, to spread the love of bikes and work towards their manifesto goals the Rural Collective launched #RotharRides in February of this year. These take place on the first weekend of every month and are fun cycles that everyone can get involved in by simply enjoying a ride in their local area. Already we’ve seen rides happening from Donegal to Clonakility and many places in between. 

Despite the pandemic we have a lot to be positive about. 

The Rural Cycling Collective which only formed last summer has been busy building momentum, bringing media attention to the potential of everyday cycling in rural Ireland and creating something well worth shouting about! 

We can’t wait to see where the roads will take us next!

Note: Further images below kindly provided by Luciana Prado.

Cyclist.ie is thrilled to see the announcement of the programme of events for the 10th Annual Clonakilty Bicycle Festival.

As always with the Clon Bike Fest, a proper celebration of all things two-wheels is planned! From humble beginnings in 2011, the Clonakilty Bicycle Festival has held true to its organic DIY ethos and become a popular and much-loved town festival over the years, signalling for many Clon people ‘the start of the summer.’ 

Taking place on the second weekend in June every year, Clon Bike Fest has always aimed to be as inclusive as possible, hosting four days of free events involving all kinds of fun with bicycles – from the hugely popular ‘Meals on Wheels’ (a 5 course mystery dinner party on bikes), the annual ‘Cycle-In Cinema’, kids hullabaloo, yoga and picnic events, and the Free Bike Clinic (which grew into ‘The Bike Circus’, Clonakilty’s community bike workshop). 

Memorable events over the years have included: Clon’s first ever ‘Cycle-Powered Cinema’ in 2016 set up in The Venue of O’Donovan’s hotel with four stationary white bikes needed to be constantly cycled to power the film projector; ‘To Will or not Two Wheels’ with a Shakespeare performances on bikes; the birdwatching ‘Estuary Cycle’, and who could forget 2019’s ‘Bikeoke’ in DeBarra’s, karaoke while riding a bike! 

This year, due to public health interests, an interactive line-up is planned, with most events broadcast on YouTube live and solo or family/pod group cycles to be incorporated into the fun.

The festival kicks off with an international welcome and the annual ‘Blessing of the Bicycles’ online. Other events include a ‘Big Kids Public Art Project’ with a competition to create the funkiest craft bikes that will be displayed around the town, a pop-up bike workshop to drop into at Inchydoney, a film screening event live on YouTube, an Art/Music Collaboration between composer Justin Grounds and artist Becky Hatchett, a zoom fractal ride (a zoom group call on bikes!), a wine, chocolate and bikes evening on YouTube with Fionnuala Harkin and Allison Roberts and a final blow-out zoom dance party! 

There is also a 10th Anniversary ‘ZINE!!’ to get your hands on, and a special edition collection of 10 illustrated postcards to purchase, which all helps fund the festival into 10 more years! 

To get involved or to check out the amazing schedule of events, head over to www.clonakiltybicyclefestival.org