Re: Re: Dublin’s Bicycle Clutter
@davidarthurs wrote:
It’s pretty simple – If you want to find out what areas of Dublin are dangerous for cycling I suggest that rather than taking photos of cyclists from afar with a long lens you get on a bike and try cycling in this fair city of ours yourself. You will find out pretty quickly I can assure you.
Between seriously dangerous potholes, speeding buses, zero planning, and no parking.
The Dublin Bikes scheme is a convenient PR boost, but nothing has really happened in terms of planning or road quality or other issues.
In other countries I often cycled as much as 50 miles. I wouldn’t get on a bike in Dublin city if you paid me. I know how dangerous it is. Over the last few years I’ve been present on the streets on 4 separate occasions when people were killed outright. I think anyone who cycles in Dublin city is taking their life in their hands.
The “success” of the Dublin Bike scheme amounts to no more than counting numbers of bikes used. It’s as half baked in it’s planning as everything else is by DCC. There is no thought as to which route a cyclists will use as a result of where the bike stand is located. The fact that the city is small, haphazardly planned and badly regulated all combine to encourage cyclists to engage in bad behaviour.
From Princes St Nrt bike stand, to travel to Grafton St strictly legally as the laws stand, a cyclists would have to take a very roundabout route. First they’d have to cycle north on O’Connell st up to the lights at the junction of Cathal Bruagh St. Then south past one bus stop after another only reaching a usable cycle lane after passing the junction of Abbey St Mid. This cycle lane is marked by poles showing once again the inconsistent standards that apply in Dublin. Most cyclists just mount the footpath at Pennys and cross to Clearys on the median.
@davidarthurs wrote:
Try cycling across super wide Westmoreland Street(no cycle lane) when 10 busses are speeding in and out around you and you are stuck in the center of the road.
I know Westmoreland street well. I’ve also photographed one cyclist after another on the street at night without lights. I’ve captured a few more going the wrong way on both sides of it and cyclists on the footpath and cyclists coming the wrong way out of Fleet st around the illegally parked taxis.
@davidarthurs wrote:
You talk about cycle lanes – what cycle lanes? it has been years since the initial minor red lanes were put in on ‘certain’ easy out of the way streets, and have deteriotated to nothing ever since. Look in front of any bus stop in the city and you will see potholes – as they don’t reenforce bus stop road space. And the general condition of what is a relatively tiny city area has got to dangerous levels with many potholes.
Many of the most dangerous streets in the city have no cycle lanes, while wide streets do. Why? because it is easy, not because it is what is needed. The DCC has no interest in serving the needs of actual cyclists. Look at the canal cycle route they are putting in to great expense – streets, and routes that are rarely used, and so quiet a dedicated lane is totally unnecessary. Meanwhile try cycling from Rathmines to the city center and you will be met with a mass of dangerous potholes, and poor planning. Try cycling back to Rathmines, and you can’t because you technically can’t cycle around stephen’s green, and the road by The Bleeding Horse is one way.
DCC has no interest in doing it’s job. They quote the number of cycle lanes in terms of kilometres not in terms of quality. It’s a slap dash approach that looks to like it’s purpose was to draw down EU grants and make it look like they were doing their what we pay them for.
@davidarthurs wrote:
Likewise try getting a space to lock a bike. Dawson Street has a max of 20 spaces – always full. O’Connell Street only has two spots of about 30 spaces – always full. And try parking a bike at a Dart station- they have still not put in bike parking in most of the Dart stations like Landsdowne etc., Try parking a bike at Sandmount Strand – not one bike stand.
Bikes at the same shouldn’t be locked to anything and everything. The city is only so big. While there may not be enough bike stands it would be going overboard if every street started to look like handle bar city. There is also the fact that at great expense the DCC have cleared a floor in Drury St car park which cyclists are not using fully. It’s got CCTV it’s out of the weather but still there are bike locked to lamp standards and bollards blocking footpaths and street seating only metres away.
@davidarthurs wrote:
As with everything in Dublin I’m afraid ongoing ‘maintenance’ is not something DCC understand. They put in infrastructure and then from that moment on they are left to deteriorate to nothing – Smithfield/O’Connell street regeneration, Boardwalk etc.,
This country in terms of politics is a failure. Politically it’s like a giant flan that’s collapsed in the middle. The nearer you get to the centre of power the lower down you travel.
@davidarthurs wrote:
But to come along sniping at cyclists with a long lens and and blame them, while yet again DCC get off the hook is absurd. Why doesn’t DCC have a road maintenance crew to repair dangerous potholes on an ongoing basis? The center of Dublin is tiny, yet nothing is done until you endlessly phone or email about it.
That’s the point exactly: this all lies at the door of DCC. Cyclists, pedestrians and motorists all pointing the finger at each other are like the residents of a badly built, badly designed, poorly finished housing estate. What needs to be done is get to the big fancy offices of the builder and hold him to account. In this case it’s DCC.
I was asked to go on another radio show today. I went through the same rigmarole. I said I might if it was a balanced program and it was based on 1 what are cyclists doing 2 why 3 what should be done. This is what I was told on the second phone call: our listeners are in the ??? to ?? (I can’t remember) it will be a quick 5 minutes, just a light hearted piece…
So I said “does that meant I won’t mention the cyclists I saw getting his head crushed under the wheel of a truck?
Eh no ….well er…it’s just really for young people….and it’s Dublin Cycling Week an’ all….
I told them to call Will Andrews of the Dublin Cycling Campaign. As far as I know they did, so he’ll be on a radio show (I presume) on Monday at 2.40 pm.
