Cycle lanes / paths and other interventions, but excluding Greenways
The development of âcycle superhighwaysâ in major cities where there is greatly-curtailed private car use, transport-led housing plans and increasing road charges are recommended in a new report by the Oireachtas Climate Action Committee.
Ireland should fundamentally redirect transport policy and apply the internationally recognised âavoid-shift-improveâ approach to cutting emissions in the sector, according to its report issued on Thursday.
A 750m long cycle path has been opened along the Royal Canal in Dublinâs North Strand at a cost of nearly âŹ9 million.
The stretch is part of Dublin City Councilâs Royal Canal âpremiumâ cycle route, a 7km path running from the north quays to the cityâs border with Fingal at Ashtown.
The first section of the route, a 500m stretch from Guild Street at the north quays to Sheriff Street, was completed more than a decade ago, but despite several announcements, work on the second phase to bring the path to Newcomen bridge at the North Strand only began in February of last year.
The newly opened section costing âŹ8.9 million, consists of a segregated three-metre wide cycle track and two-metre wide footpath on a viaduct bridge alongside a linear park. The project also involved the realignment of the junction of Seville Place, Guild Street and Sheriff Street Upper and the provision of a pedestrian and cyclist crossing at its entrance with North Strand Road.
The route for a 5km cycle path along the river Liffey in Dublin has finally been selected by the National Transport Authority (NTA) seven years since planning for the project began.
The segregated cycle route from the Phoenix Park in the west to the Tom Clarke Bridge in the east is expected to cost more than âŹ20 million and will run on both sides of the river.
More than 100 car parking spaces and 33 trees will be removed to facilitate the track, but unlike previous plans, cars or buses will not be diverted from the quays.
Read article (Irish Times)
ÂŁ500m is being spent to fund cycling networks in Greater Manchester
A thousand miles of safe cycling and walking routes are to be created in Greater Manchester after an Olympic gold medallist persuaded town hall bosses to spend as much on cyclists and pedestrians as Amsterdam and other cycling nirvanas.
Bad day for London’s cyclists …
A legal challenge by Westminster city council to block a major cycle route in London has succeeded on a procedural point, in a move that could send Transport for London back to the drawing board and set safety improvements to one of Londonâs most dangerous junctions back by months.
The councilâs successful judicial review of Cycle Superhighway 11 (CS11), which was due to run from Swiss Cottage to Portland Place, is the latest of its blocks to cycling, walking and road safety improvements. Following the scrapping of the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street, the review has cemented Westminsterâs reputation as the car-is-king borough of London. Read full article
A study led by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) has found that expanding designated cycling networks in cities could provide considerable health and economic benefits, with a rate of return of up to 70 ⏠for every euro invested.
The analysis â part of European Commission funded Physical Activity through Sustainable Transport Approaches (PASTA) project – of data from 167 European cities suggests that the length of cycling infrastructures is associated with a cycling mode share of up to 24.7%, in which 1 in every 4 citizens would choose the bicycle for their daily commuting. The study, published in Preventive Medicine, estimates that if all the assessed cities achieved a 24.7% bicycle mode share, over 10,000 premature deaths could be avoided annually. Read article
The epidemic of physical inactivity was the main topic of discussion at the Sport intergroup conference in the European Parliament (EP) last week. Its âŹ80 billion cost, first raised by Marisa Fernandez Esteban of the EU Sport Unit was repeated over and over. ECFâs response to this public health crisis is the EU Cycling Strategy, with its 2030 aims to increase cycling by 50%, reduce cycling fatalities by 50%, thereby adding 225,000 jobs and 250 billion euros to the cycling economy. âIf every EU citizen did just 15 minutes more of cycling or walking each day, weâd save 100,000 lives from unnecessary early deaths each year,â said ECF health policy officer Dr. Randy Rzewnicki. âWalking and cycling is the best buy for EU cities and towns,â he said, âWeâre working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) to make that message clear in many ways: including free training in the Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT) and supporting the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA).â Read article
The latest EuroVelo Route Inspectors Training took place in Letterkenny, Ireland, on 23-24 April. More than 40 prospective EuroVelo route inspectors and the EuroVelo Management Team met in this charming town close to the Irish north-Atlantic shores for a busy training session.
The two-day training started with presentations explaining the European Certification Standard (ECS) methodology, EuroVeloâs process for the evaluation of long-distance cycle routes. Over the past few months, the ECFâs Infrastructure Officer Aleksander BuczyĆski has been thoroughly reviewing the ECS Manuals, and these were presented to the participants along with many practical examples for route inspectors (check out the annexes to the ECS). The ECS covers route Infrastructure as well as Services, Marketing and Promotion.
The statistics are stark. So far this year, six cyclists have been killed on Irish roads and many more injured, some very seriously. Last year, 15 died as a result of collisions with motor vehicles, more often than not on high-speed open roads, and hundreds more were injured. âOne fatal road tragedy is one too many,â Minister for Transport Shane Ross has said. However, apart from introducing legislation to provide for minimum passing distances to protect vulnerable cyclists from reckless motorists, Ross cannot claim to be a champion of two-wheelers when his own departmentâs allocation for cycling infrastructure fell from âŹ19 million in 2015 to âŹ10.5 million in 2016 and just âŹ7.5 million last year. These figures, which amount to less than 2 per cent of its capital budget, are so pathetically inadequate that they put Ireland close to the bottom among EU countries in this area.
