A radical rearrangement of traffic on the Liffey quays in Dublin is in prospect following the completion next spring of a major study aiming to maximise facilities for cyclists and pedestrians while maintaining priority for buses.
The study, commissioned by Dublin City Council in association with the National Transport Authority, is looking at the Liffey corridor from Phoenix Park to the O2, including streets parallel to the quays.
Options being examined by consultants AECOM and Roughan O’Donovan include taking traffic off the north quays, limiting one side of the river to buses and cyclists and reversing traffic flows.
“The overall purpose of the scheme is to maximise facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, including mobility-impaired facilities, while maintaining priority for buses,” a spokesman for the city council told The Irish Times.
“The consultants will take into account all possible measures for the provision of cycleways and the improvement of facilities for all modes [of transport, including] reassignment of road space.”
Segregated cycle lanes, wider footpaths and optimising cycle, pedestrian and bus “wait times” at junctions, physical segregation of bus lanes, contra-flow bus lanes, junction priorities and turning bans are all being considered.
Boardwalk
The consultants will also examine possible extensions to the Liffey boardwalk along the north quays, according to one source; it now terminates at Grattan Bridge (Capel Street).
“This all sounds like good news,” said former minister of state for planning and avid cyclist Ciarán Cuffe, who noted that Danish cycling guru Mikael Colville-Andersen, from Copenhagen, was involved in the Liffey corridor study.
Mr Colville-Andersen is founder of Copenhagenize Consulting, which advises on “planning, traffic and communications” throughout the EU.
