Ramps to divide walkers and cyclists on Dublin Bay route

Pedestrian ramps to stop walkers wandering into the path of cyclists are included in new redesign proposals for the Dublin Bay cyclepath.

Dublin City Council last year considered installing speed ramps as a "bicycle-calming measure" on the Clontarf section of its flagship Sandymount to Sutton (S2S) cycle route.

Such ramps were used in the Netherlands it said, but it scrapped the plans when it realised the Dutch ramps were used on cyclepaths shared with mopeds, to reduce the speeds of the motorised vehicles, and were not intended to slow cyclists.

However the council remained concerned about the number of “conflict points between pedestrians and cyclists ” along the costal route.

It now plans to re-engineer the route between Alfie Byrne Road and Conquer Hill Road by introducing “raised defined crossing points” for pedestrians, planting low hedges at other points, installing warning signs for pedestrians and cyclists, moving the cycle path in a number of locations, and constructing new footpaths at others.

Fine Gael Cllr Naoise O Muirí has been seeking safety measures on the cyclepath for the last two years following collisions where pedestrians were hurt.

“There were two incidents, one where a schoolboy was hit by a cyclist and another where a senior citizen was knocked down. I welcome the changes which will segregate cyclists from pedestrians more, but cyclists need to get into their heads that they need to yield to pedestrians.”

A report by the council’s engineers has identified solutions to several “conflict points” along the route, particularly where pedestrians are leaving the roadside footpath and crossing the cyclepath to reach the seaside path.

Two raised crossing points are recommended in the Alfie Byrne Road/Clontarf Road area clearly marked with signage to “warn cyclists to yield to pedestrians”. A new footpath is also recommended as “pedestrians are using the cycletrack in obvious conflict with cyclists”.

Realigned

Hollybook Road car park presents a problem where people leaving their cars step into the cyclepath. To resolve this, the cyclepath will be realigned away from the car park to the seafront.

A similar conflict exists at Vernon Avenue car park. At this point, the existing cyclepath would become a footpath and a new cyclepath would be built alongside. Both paths would be separated by a low hedge. Designated crossing points would installed at breaks in the hedging.

At other car parks shrubbery will be cut back to improve visibility and cyclists will have warning signs telling them to yield cars .

The removal of a barrier at the Clontarf Yacht Club slipway has resulted in free parking at this point. The report recommends the reinstatement of this barrier in the interests of cyclist safety.

A spokesman for the council said the costs of the measures will not be available until the procurement process has been completed.