Cycling in Irish Cities

Arguably the best cycle route in Cork city is along the line of the Old Blackrock & Passage railway. From the east end of the city centre, head for Victoria Road, then take either Monahans Rd. or Centre Park Rd through the Docklands. Centre Park Rd. serves all the industrial premises, oil terminal, etc, but is worlds apart from its counterpart in Dublin Port – tree-lined for most of its length. At the end of Centre Park Rd., you emerge onto the Marina, which is a traffic-free, tree-lined boulevard along the banks of the Lee. Continue past Pairc Ui Chaoimhe and then take a right, onto the old railway reservation. Route is intact as far as Rochestown, beyond that I am unsure. The other benefit is that the track is, almost uniquely in Cork, flat! No lungbursting near-vertical climbs here!

that old railway line is very peaceful; pity it’s not redeveloped as a rail line though. Might disturb your cycling though!

Devin

This thread was originally meant to be about cycling in all the Irish cities but has been very Dublin-ish so far – apart from corcaighboy’s post. Probably my fault to some extent for putting on so many Dublin images.

Limerick’s local Authority approach makes for some interesting reading. If implemented the advantages would improve the living quality there manifold.

Limerick City Cycle Network Strategy

The strategy sets out the key issues involved in developing a cycle lane network for Limerick City. A proposed network of cycle routes is identified. These routes link centres of education and work places with residential areas utilising Limerick’s relatively flat topography and attractive water frontages.
The Limerick City Cycle Network Strategy was presented to the Transportation & Infrastructure Strategic Policy Committee on the 1st of September 2003.
The Public Consultation for the Strategy was carried out over a six week period from the 1st September to the 22nd October 2003. The proposed network was amended as a result of the Public Consultation exercise. This document was passed by Limerick City Council on the 24th May 2004.

Director of Service: John Breen
Transportation & Infrastructure Department
Limerick City Council
May 2004

Click the link for full account. http://www.limerickcity.ie/services/roads/rt_cycle.html

Not the first time I’ve seen a Garda motorbike parked in the bike lane, but the first time I’ve had my camera with me- Morehampton Road, 1st June 2006. So if the Gardai can’t abide by the rules of the road, what hope for them enforcing the rules for others?

I’ve been back on the N11 daily for the last couple of months and not a day goes past without some obstacle blocking the way. And I’m not talking about the usual broken glass, bus passengers – sorry, customers – and their luggage, or wheelie bins. No, I mean workmen’s SUVs parked right beside the house they’re gutting (because 100 yards is too far to walk from a legal parking spot), Aircoach drivers pulling across me into bus stops without indicating, broken down cars put up on the bike path so they don’t inconvenience motorised road users, even though there are three lanes for motorised traffic and only one for bikes (don’t get me started on the ‘mandatory use’ rule- one of the few cyclist-related rules that the Gardai seem to [think they] know about…).

But the Gardai? I’d almost be laughing if I wasn’t too busy taking aim at his dashboard instruments.

Aah PDLL, good to have your input as always. Thanks for that.
Given that you’re usually such a stickler for chapter and verse (facts on rural housing spring to mind), could I request a reference ot the specific bit of legislation/rules of the road, please? Thanks in advance.

I didn’t post a picture of the scene this morning, where there was a fire engine and an ambulance parked in the bike lane at almost the same spot because they were attending to a person lying on a stretcher on the footpath. Don’t know if he was a cyclist, a motorcyclist, a pedestrian or something else, but there was certainly a very good reason for those emergency vehicles to be there. But there was no good reason for the Garda bike to be there yesterday as far as I could see. Even if he (?) was on duty, there were plenty of places mere yards away that would have served his needs most adequately.

@PDLL wrote:

Happy to oblige. Consider, for example, Section 14 of the new draft Rules of the Road (to be found on http://www.transport.ie) where it says that ‘Ambulances, fire brigade engines and Garda vehicles re exempt from speed limits and certain traffic regulations when being used in an emergency situation’.

Would the problem in the images presented not be more a situation of zero velocity vs speed exemptions?

@PDLL wrote:

Happy to oblige. Consider, for example, Section 14 of the new draft Rules of the Road (to be found on http://www.transport.ie) where it says that ‘Ambulances, fire brigade engines and Garda vehicles are exempt from speed limits and certain traffic regulations when being used in an emergency situation’. While it may not be obvious to you at the time of taking your photograph, the officer in question may have been involved in an emergency situation or may have been preventing one from happening. When someone’s life is possibly in danger, one tends to be a little less pernickidy about where one parks.

The full quotation is actually:
“Ambulances, fire brigade engines and Garda vehicles are exempt from speed limits and certain general traffic regulations when being used in an emergency situation. Drivers of these vehicles are, however, required to take into account the safety of other road users in exercising these exemptions.” (Emphasis added.)

So they should not jeopardise other road users, such as cyclists, in order to carry out their duties. Or, put another way, thou shalt not do evil that good may come.

Lots of interesting facts re cyclists rights (and responsibilities) in the Rules of the Road (Draft). Thanks for the link. For example, to answer one question Graham Hickey asked months ago, it seems riding on the footpath is expressly forbidden. So now we know.

Also, re your pic above- that situation has more in common with the situation I witnessed this morning, regarding which I did say that “there was certainly a very good reason for those emergency vehicles to be there.” In your pic they seem actually to be blocking the road, so I don’t think you can draw a parallel between the London pic and the Garda motorbike pic.

@ctesiphon wrote:

The full quotation is actually:
“Ambulances, fire brigade engines and Garda vehicles are exempt from speed limits and certain general traffic regulations when being used in an emergency situation. Drivers of these vehicles are, however, required to take into account the safety of other road users in exercising these exemptions.” (Emphasis added.)

So they should not jeopardise other road users, such as cyclists, in order to carry out their duties. Or, put another way, thou shalt not do evil that good may come..

Perhaps the Garda in question was acting on information not known to you (or any other member of the general public at that moment in time). Perhaps he parked it there in a hurry in pursuit of someone or in preventing a crime from taking place. Perhaps the Garda in question made a calculated and professional judgement at a critical moment in time that it was better to park his bike there and piss a few sensitive cyclists off than to allow something worse from happening (such as a crime or a more serious imminent accident). Yes, the emergency servcies have a responsibility to ensure that they avoid creating accidents, but all civilian road users also have a responsibility to ensure that the emergency services have their full understanding in the execution of their duties. In this case, it was a minor inconvenience to have to dismount momentarily from one’s bike so as to safely negotiate the Garda’s motorbike. Motorists are often obliged to perform far more dangerous and fast paced courtesy manouvers when confronted by an ambulance racing through a junction. It is not just about the Rules of the Road, it is also about good road etiquette and a respect for the often difficult and dangerous jobs which the emergency services have to perform. What this particular Garda was doing on this particular occasion is unknown to us, but perhaps it is wiser to give him the benefit of the doubt by assuming that he was engaged in professional duties that took priority over the rights of a cyclist. If you start questioning the rights of security personnel to execute their legitimate and authorized professional responsibilities (even when their immediate purpose is not obvious to you), then you are not really fulfilling your duties as a responsible citizen.

Perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps.

I was stopped for long enough to remove my camera from my pannier, frame the shot, take two pictures, put the camera away and cycle off. At least 2 minutes. Long enough, I think, to be able to ascertain whether there was a Garda executing his emergency duties in a nearby location that would have required him to park in that spot. And guess what…?

“Motorists are often obliged to perform far more dangerous and fast paced courtesy manouvers”
Then they are driving too fast. It is incumbent on a motorist to drive with sufficient care and attention to be able to stop or alter their behaviour without endangering themselves or others. Not to do so is considered dangerous driving, but unfortunately the danger inherent in such behaviour is often only apparent when an unforeseen incident occurs, by which time it is often too late.

Anyway, I’m done on this one. You know by now PDLL that we fundamentally disagree.
Though I might add: when you’re in a hole you stop digging.

To go back to a previous element of this thread (and another one on which I’ve disagreed with many members here), this article might be of some interest. It”s about rule-breaking cyclists in England and community opposition to their antics. You know how I feel already, I think- there’s no need for me to rehash my points of view. In essence, I could have written 90% of this article.

Braking Point, by Will Storr, Observer Magazine, 4th June 2006