Dearey calls on council to address cycle lane issues in Dundalk

Part of the cycle lane on Chapel Street

Local councillor Mark Dearey has called on Louth County Council to address the issue of the cycle lanes in Chapel Street as soon as possible.

The cycle lane, which runs from The Century Bar in Roden Place as far as the CBS primary school has fallen into a state of disrepair in recent years with many of the barriers that separate the cycle lane from the road broken and damaged.

Mark Dearey

Cllr Dearey of the Green Party and Fine Gael’s Cllr Maria Doyle raised the matter at the meeting of the Dundalk Municipal District Committee this week after initially raising the subject last year in Dundalk Town Council.

Officials admitted that plans to change the traffic flow on the street had got lost in the changeover to Louth County Council last summer with Cllr Dearey urging them to look at it urgently.

He told LMFM: “The transition from Dundalk Town Council to Louth County Council has meant this issue has got dropped, and that was acknowledged by the officials, so I don’t think there’s any excuse for further delay to addressing the design issues around the cycle lane on Chapel Street.

“We were given a commitment that an alternative to the poles, which are a shambles at this stage, would be looked at and nothing has happened so I think the onus is now on the roads engineers to get on with it,” he said.

The cycle lanes around the town, including the one at Chapel Street, have been hugely controversial since being installed in recent years with few users and constant complaints from motorists and service workers.

Three quarters of the funding for the cycle lanes came from the Department of Transport’s Smarter Travel Programme but the general consensus around Dundalk is that it was a waste of money with numerous issues with the lanes since their installation including the reworking of the junction at the top of Chapel Street opposite The Century Bar and Home Bakery.

Indeed, Sinn Féin Cllr Edel Corrigan told the meeting earlier this week that she would oppose any local funds being spent on improvements to the cycle lanes in the wake of cutbacks to the roads programme.

Corrigan hits out at Irish Water staff for blocking cycle lanes

Cllr Edel Corrigan

Sinn Féin councillor Edel Corrigan has hit out at Irish Water workers who are obstructing cycle lanes while installing water meters in the area.

In a statement, the Mountpleasant woman said the workers were “endangering the lives of cyclists” and showing “disregard for residents.”

Cllr Corrigan said several people in the area had contacted her about the matter in recent weeks and expressed her concern, describing it as a “safety issue”.

She said: “I have contacted Irish Water and the Council about this asking if the contractors had sought a permit to close the cycle lanes. No alternative access routes have been provided for the cyclists and this has had a knock on effect on the traffic and pedestrians alike.

“I am sure Irish Water have informed their contractors that it is illegal to block cycle lanes. If they have then they are being ignored by their own contractors. Well they are not the only ones being ignored by the contractors. Residents are supposed to receive advance notice of when works are commencing. That is not happening and I have logged this concern with Irish Water also who informed me the contractors must give this advance warning as part of their contract.

“Unfortunately the only notice some residents get is when they are awoken at the crack of dawn by loud drilling and hammering.”

Events planned in Dundalk for National Bike Week

It’s the start of National Bike Week tomorrow and to mark the occasion a number of events are planned for Dundalk this Sunday.

Slow bike races and High Nelly bike races, as well as many other events, will be taking place in and around St Helena’s Park on the day.

There’ll also be a tour of Dundalk’s cycle lanes and much more.

All are welcome to attend.

The way things were on Stapleton Place

Local snapper Mark Quigley is currently undertaking a photography project called ‘Then/Now’.

As part of the project he is taking old photos of Dundalk and amalgamating them with shots of how things are now.

One of his most recent works concerns Stapleton Place, a street which has generated much debate of late because of the work carried out on it to install cycle lanes.

Mark’s picture gives a timely reminder of what a beautiful and stunning wide street Stapleton Place once was. Whether you agree to cycle lanes or not, it’s certain that the streetscape of Dundalk has suffered from their arrival.

You can view more of Mark’s work on his Facebook page.

So what’s going on here then? Dundalk cycle lanes being worked on

Work is being carried out at present on the almost never-used cycle lanes on Stapleton Place.

Rather than removing the cycle lanes though, Talk of the Town understands that a new style pathway, parking area and cycle lane system is being developed.

The changes come after numerous complaints from local residents about getting in and out of their cars when they park in front of their homes.

The trees along the street are being cut down at present to make way for the changes.

Commenting on the matter on the Talk of the Town Facebook page, Fine Gael councillor Maria Doyle said: “The street was destroyed when the Council put in the cycle tracks 2 years ago.

“The work being carried out now is as a result of an agreement the council made with the residents to make the cycle path safer from them getting in and out of cars etc. This agreement dates back to July 2012 and was well reported at the time, but has taken the Council this long to get it started. Myself and the residents wanted the road returned to how it used to be. But the council engineers would only agree to modifications.”

This is the second time that the council have had to review their cycle lane policy after the initial cycle lanes that crossed the road in front of the Century Bar and Home Bakery had to be removed as it was causing confusion for all concerned.

The way things used to be on Stapleton Place. Picture: Google Maps

Before there were cycle lanes…

Thanks to Sharron McQuaid for sharing this superb shot of Stapleton Place in years gone by, before it was butchered in recent years and converted from being one of Dundalk’s widest streets to a shadow of its former self, with virtually unused cycle lanes taking up half the road.