Editorials

The Irish Times view on cycling infrastructure in Dublin: pedals are starting to turn

In developing cycling infrastructure, county councils have growing public sentiment on their side - they should use it

Work has commenced on a cycle lane between Malahide and Donabate that will run alongside the existing train line. ( Photo: Enda O'Dowd for The Irish Times)

Thu Aug 17 2023 - 20:00

North county Dublin is popular with cyclists, but badly served by cycling infrastructure. With 88 km of coastline, Fingal County Council is ideally positioned to capitalise on the growing enthusiasm for cycling – it just hasn’t done so on any significant level until recently.

The council has now started work on the first of three major schemes which will take cyclists, and pedestrians, all the way from Sutton to Balbriggan on segregated paths. The first of these is the shortest, but possibly the most impressive and in engineering terms the most challenging, spanning the Broadmeadow estuary from Malahide to Donabate, alongside the Belfast to Dublin rail line. The next scheme from Sutton to Malahide will be subject to an application to An Bord Pleanála later this year. The last and longest, from Donabate to Balbriggan, is due to go before the board next year.

The short section of greenway Fingal County Council has constructed in Baldoyle is impressive and the council should also be encouraged by the success and popularity of the paths along the coast from Sutton to Fairview. These are currently being extended by Dublin City Council to the city centre, and to the Sandycove to Blackrock route which Dun Laoghaire Rathdown is now progressing on in the direction of the Merrion Gates.

In developing cycling infrastructure, county councils have growing public sentiment on their side. And they should use it – strides are now being made but progress across the city and in other urban areas has been patchy. More coherence is needed, as is clear messaging about what is planned. And, where possible, quicker delivery and more joined-up local planning.

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Research repeatedly shows that people want safer cycling infrastructure and report they would be willing to give up their cars, particularly for shorter trips, if that infrastructure was in place. Even those who cannot, or do not want to, leave their cars can surely see that in an increasingly congested capital, more people choosing to cycle instead of drive is of benefit to everyone.

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