A radical expansion of cycle infrastructure across south Dublin is planned by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
A 25km network of connected cycle routes will be created using quiet residential streets, parks and existing cycle lanes.
Other changes to traffic will include access-only arrangements on some streets, the closure of parts of other streets to traffic, and the introduction of a one-way system.
The routes will create safe cycling to at least 65 schools across the county, and will see previously disjointed cycle tracks connected for the first time.
The move comes after the success of a coastal cycle route in the capital.
Three routes, branded Sea to Mountains, Park to Park, and Mountains to Metals, will all connect with the two-way segregated cycle path from Blackrock to Dún Laoghaire and Sandycove.
Cycle to school
The council’s director of services, Robert Burns, said the main idea behind the scheme is to directly encourage cycling to school.
“A lot of the existing cycling infrastructure we have is quite good, but it only gets you so far before it runs out,” he told The Irish Times.
“The disconnected nature of that is a deterrent for parents and children. It’s those people that the active schools travel routes are targeting – who you might call the ‘interested but concerned’ cyclists.”
Submissions on the plan can be made until November 6th, but Mr Burns said there will be ongoing public engagement as the routes are introduced and they can be “tweaked” if necessary.
“What works we will hold on to what doesn’t work can be changed or removed.”
