Calls for Sandymount cycle lane to be located off road
There was standing room only at the Annual General meeting of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association (SAMRA) following a recent Court of Appeal decision that paves the way for Dublin City Council to proceed with plans for a cycleway on the road, which was first proposed during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020.
The majority of locals and public representatives who spoke, many of whom are cyclists, expressed their opposition to the plans, saying it would have an adverse impact on traffic in the area.
SAMA chairman David Turner told the more than 150 attendees that Dublin City Council's proposals would result in thousands of cars that previously used Strand Road using narrow residential streets in Sandymount village.
The group says this could result in parts of the area becoming 'rat runs' and that there are concerns that traffic projections for the area have not taken account of the opening of the Glass Bottle Site in Ringsend, which will have an estimated ten thousand extra people living and working in the area when construction is completed.
The current population of Sandymount is around 7,000.
Local TDs, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, Labour leader Ivana Bacik and Independent TD Eoin Hayes, along with a number of local Councillors, were among those who attended the meeting.
Resident Audrey Handley said the water works that were carried out on Strand Road in recent times showed the major impact rerouting traffic had on the area and she said the issue of the cycle path is not over and done until locals got an off road solution.
However, another resident, who had her six-week-old baby with her, said that if locals wait for a cycle lane to be built off road as part of flood defence works which are not expected to be constructed until at least 2029, the newborn baby in her arms would be in primary school before it would be ready.
Green Party Councillor Hazel Chu told the meeting that she believed the area could "do both" by implementing a cycle lane on Strand Road while they await construction of an off road cycleway. She also made the point that Dublin City Council had yet to make a decision on a cycleway for the area but her contribution was met with some verbal opposition.
Local resident David Timoney said that he was concerned that a whole generation of local children were not cycling because they were afraid to mix with cars on the Strand Road.
However, another resident Chris Lysatt said that 80% of local children use roads other than the Strand Road to cycle to school so rerouting traffic to these areas would increase the risk to the majority of children in the area.
Councillor Dermot Lacey of the Labour Party said that the Dublin City Council could have built the off road option if they had listened to Councillors a number of years ago, who he said had constantly suggested the off road option.
He also said that it is shameful that it could take the OPW up to ten years to build flood defences in the area.
Mr Lacey added that the recent court ruling meant the Dublin City Council now had the power to put a cycleway off road if they chose.
Ms Bacik said the off-road option was the optimal approach but the difficulty is the delay in delivering it. She said a question had to be asked about why it would take so long.
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