Council accused of making a ‘complete dog’s dinner’ out of Dublin's Capel and Parliament Street
Dublin City Council (DCC) has been accused of making a “complete dog’s dinner” out of Parliament Street and Capel Street by erecting barriers down the middle of the car-free carriageway.
During a meeting of the South East Area Committee earlier this week, councillors had a mixed reaction to the obstacles, which were set up without consultation with elected members.
Green Party councillor Carolyn Moore said the council had made a “complete dog’s dinner of the street” with the changes.
“I do not understand the rationale behind removing traffic from a street, investing a lot in how that street looks, in putting in seating, and then whatever this obstacle course that has appeared on the street now, without any that I’m aware of, prior notice to anybody,” she said.
“I don’t understand what’s happening there and I think it looks frankly disgraceful.”
The barriers have been set up all along the stretch between City Hall and the northernmost point of Capel Street, coupled with signage urging cyclists to “slow down”.
Independents 4 Change councillor Pat Dunne said the new layout amounted to a “zig-zag course”.
“I’m suggesting that we look at this from the point of view of having it a pedestrian street, and that cyclists are asked to dismount and walk their bike through the pedestrian area,” he said.
Capel Street went car-free last summer
“It would only add about a minute to somebody’s journey, but it’s the only way to make it safe.”
Committee chair Dermot Lacey said he was a daily cyclist and hardly ever used his car, but felt that Parliament Street had “become a mess”.
“The amount of couriers who are behaving in really, really dangerous behaviour [is] incredible, so if something had to be done, something had to be done,” he said.
Mr Lacey suggested that part of the issue is how delivery bikes are paid, on a per-job basis, encouraging them to travel at unsafe speeds.
“I actually think the issue has to be tackled at the very core, which is how these couriers are paid to do their job,” he said. “They’re not paid to work safely and I think we owe it to them to do so.”
Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne said he was “delighted” to see the barriers erected on the street.
“I’ve heard from many residents living on the street that the cyclists are going way too fast on the street, they’re just ploughing through. But now there is an intervention, so that’s very welcome and I hope that that will be kept up,” he said.
A spokesperson for DCC said “there has been concern raised about a small number of cyclists on these streets travelling at too fast a speed for a pedestrian priority area”.
“DCC were testing a number of measures to raise awareness amongst cyclists and e-scooter users that Parliament Street and Capel Street are pedestrian priority areas,” they said.
“And while cyclists and e-scooters are allowed use the street, they must do so at a speed which allows them to give way to any pedestrian. This immediate phase is concluding today and once results are evaluated DCC will determine what, if any, further steps may need to be taken.”