Dublin City Council told 'do better' as cyclists forced into traffic during flood works
Councillors have demanded temporary segregated lanes whenever the coastal cycle route closes, ending the practice of forcing cyclists into heavy traffic during flood works.
At Monday’s North Central Area Committee meeting, Social Democrat Councillors Paddy Monahan and Karl Stanley called for cyclists to no longer be considered an afterthought when roads are closed due to things like flood works. They cited a lack of notice during the recent closure of the coastal cycle lane , which left cyclists uncertain and more likely to use motorised transport.
With the promotion of Active Travel being a major tenet of the Dublin City Development Plan, the motion stated it is imperative there is certainty for the high volume of commuters, school children, and local residents who rely on this cycle route. “Without this certainty the route will be unreliable and people will not use it,” the motion said.
“When the coastal cycle route was closed for flood alleviation works for four months in the summer of 2025 no safe alternative cycle route was provided by Dublin City Council – instead children, families and commuters were funnelled, unprotected, into busy traffic. Dublin City Council must do better.
“And we know it can. Because during the same flood alleviation works last summer road space was taken and used to create a safe, segregated walkway for pedestrians that was physically separated from the road by a barrier. This shows it can be done – we just need to apply the same approach to children, families and commuters who use bikes and rely on this route.”
Cllr Monahan expressed dissatisfaction with the council’s response to the motion, which came from an engineer rather than a representative from Transport or Active Travel. Cllr Stanley said they have been “banging the drum on this for a while” and if the council wishes to encourage active travel, then it needs to take cycle paths seriously.
He described the coastal route as "the M50 for cyclists” and that for those on bicycles to be confronted with closures without any prior notice is not acceptable. “You’d never get away with that on a road that cars drive on, there would be murder,” Cllr Stanley said.
“If we want people to use this infrastructure we have to make sure it is open and when it’s closed that there is a safe, well-posted alternative.”
Cllr John Lyons agreed that segregated cycle lands are “so important” in terms of being an active city, but bemoaned that “the first sign of any issue they are thrown under the bus.” He said that whenever there’s road works, the council always ensures that pedestrian access is available and that the same principle must be followed for cyclists.
“People going to work or collecting the kids need to know they have the certainty that they can travel safely. To do this in such an arbitrary fashion undermines Active Travel. They will just simply take the car,” he said.
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