Doughiska - priority is systematically removed from cyclists. Apparently this is now the model for the rest of the city

Doughiska - cyclists also lose priority at the bus stops.

The biggest bombshell of the meeting was a statement By Director of Services Ciaran Hayes that the Doughiska road is now the “model” for the rest of the city in terms of cycling provision.

Doughiska had arguably made Galway City an international laughing stock and has been nominated as one of the worst cycle lanes in Ireland. When the Doughiska scheme was first proposed in 2007, Mr. Hayes and Mr. Tansey were openly accused in the council chamber of conducting a “vendetta” against cyclists. After several votes the city officials succeeded in getting the scheme passed. The final design turned out to be worse than could have been imagined. In the space of 1.4km, cyclists had their priority removed at all 18 side roads, several bus stops, a taxi rank and several pedestrian crossings. The engineers who approved the design also stated that they expected cyclists to yield to turning and crossing traffic at every one of the 43 property entrances on the road.

It would seem that this is what the GTU are planning for the rest of the city if they succeed in winning the €25m on offer under the the Smarter Travel Areas Fund. The Smarter Travel program threatens to be a disaster for cycling in Galway.

Doughiska – Green for stop. The apparent intent of this treatment is to force cyclists to wait for waiting pedestrians, even if they have a green light.

Doughiska – cyclist voting with his feet. The GTU have indicated that in the case of the Seamus Quirke Road, they will use road signs making this illegal — something they have not previously done in the city.

At its quarterly meeting on 8th June 2010, the Forum discussed a motion condemning the Galway Transportation Unit’s activities in relation to Smarter Travel and the Seamus Quirke road design. Several members of the Transport subgroup called for the Forum to withdraw support from the City Council’s bid for funding under the Smarter Travel Areas Fund. The GTU’s activities in relation to the Seamus Quirke Road redesign are seen as a betrayal of the work that went into supporting the bid and were described as a “stab in the back” for those trying to promote sustainable transport.

There was some disagreement on this point and there is reason to believe that some lobbying may have taken place beforehand by political interests in an attempt to save the city’s chances of getting the funding. In the end the meeting agreed to adopt the following wording:

“Galway City Community Forum wishes to reaffirm its support for the Smarter Travel Bid. However, Galway City Community Forum wishes to express serious concerns with regards to the proposed redesign of the Seamus Quirke Road/Bishop O’Donnell Road Scheme. The Forum is appalled by the lack of consultation throughout the redesign process and calls for full consultation on all aspects of the design. It is the view of the Forum that the proposed design is in conflict with the principles of Smarter Travel.”

A happy explorer

The 2nd Annual Family Cycling Treasure Hunt survived some initial summer showers to come out a clear winner with the kids yet again in 2010. An afternoon of cycling fun, training, exploration and adventure was had by over thirty families.

Starting from the Arts Millennium building in NUI, Galway and taking in some of Galway city’s most scenic routes, the treasure hunt used the university campus for traffic-free fun.

Bikes had their NCT with Mike the bike doctor before setting off on the “Explorer” course, designed for smaller children and their adult supervisors. The “explorers” travelled through the university ground, along the River Corrib, and back to the main campus via Corrib Village. Educational questions, relating to cycling benefits and safety, were mixed with fun challenges, such as a slow bike race and cycle slalom. There was also cycling skills education with a qualified UK National Standard Cycling instructor.

Enjoying the slow bike race at the Galway Cycling Treasure Hunt 2010

Older children finished with the longer “Adventurer” course; it incorporated the Explorer course and extended along Galway’s canal system, involving some on-road sections of Mill Street and New Street. Volunteers were present along the routes to offer help, stickers, friendly smiles and chats. After completing the courses, cyclists were treated to refreshments — fruit, chocolate, drinks, and a variety of delicious homemade muffins — until the prize draw took place at 4 pm. There were three prizes of vouchers for Nigel’s Cycles on the Tuam Road, and all the children got bells for their bicycles, courtesy of Richard Walsh Cycles on the Headford Road.

The winners of the vouchers were

Albert Hardiman
Cloe Benson
Conor Moran

The Galway Cycling Campaign would like to thank NUI, Galway for hosting the event, the Department of Transport for funding, Galway City Council for their assistance, and the many volunteers who helped make the 2010 Family Cycling Treasure Hunt such a success. The Campaign is very grateful to the Red Cross, who were on hand throughout the day, and to Critical Mass Galway, who provided enthusiastic volunteers. Most of all, we want to thank the cyclists of all ages who took part. We hope they enjoyed the event as much as we did, and we hope to see them again next year!

Galway Cycling Treasure Hunt 2010 Crew

The Irish Government’s National Cycle Policy Framework states: “We will also stipulate that that all local authority roads engineers and any engineer wishing to tender for government road contracts should be required to have taken an approved cycling skills course”. The stated policy of the National Cycling Lobby Group, Cyclist.ie also specifies that the completion of an approved cycling skills course is a standard requirement for all consultants undertaking such work.

The Cycling Campaign have requested documentary evidence showing that the consultants (AECOM) have taken such a course.

Shane Foran speaking for the campaign added “In the UK and Ireland , the only accredited cycling skills course dealing with the full range of on-road traffic skills is the UK National Standard for Cycle Training. The Green Schools Travel staff currently working with 400 schools, including schools in Galway, have been trained as UK National Standard instructors” The Cycle Campaign states that current best practice for drafting viable cycling strategies requires consultants who are able to audit the existing roads, and any proposed new designs, with reference to “design cyclists” who come under the different ability levels defined under the National Standard curriculum. The cyclists say that it is totally unacceptable that the City Council should apparently be seeking to develop a cycling strategy in isolation from the advice that child and adult cyclists are being given with regard to using the roads.

The cyclists say the issue of consultants being able to show that they have necessary training is non-negotiable issue, because having untrained and unassessed consultants advising on cycling measures is viewed as equivalent to employing general traffic engineers who don’t possess driving licences or any independent verification of driving competence.

Parking Day Justyna and Catherine

The aim of Park(ing) Day is to convert a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in an area of Galway City that is underserved by public open space. The objective is to creatively explore how our urban public space is allocated and used. Inexpensive kerb-side parking results in increased traffic & less space in the city centre. This hinders the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles, adds to the level of CO2 emissions and prevents the creation of a healthy, vibrant urban human habitat. Park(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the metropolitan landscape.

Galway’s newest green space was offered (and used) as a space to sit down to have a chat with friends, read the newspaper or simply to watch the world go by. The Galway Cycling Campaign also provided muffins and Justyna’s famous “bicycle shaped” cookies!

Bicycle cookies

GCC Bike Stand Sep 09

On the 24th of September the GCC marked mobility week ’09 with an “edutainment” event in NUI, Galway.  There was a competition using the information signs from the summer bicycle treasure hunt which were arrayed along the main concourse.  (Reputedly the longest enclosed space in the country). University vice president Keith Warnock, sponsored two bicycles worth EU250 each and mountain trail sponsored some bike accessories.   To enter the draw participants had to answer questions on measures to promote cycling and improve safety. The information signs covered the usual suspects: Roundabouts, one-way streets, permeability, cycle-parking, 30kph zones and so on.

Indie and Catherine fight off last minute entrants as they try to take the stand down

Mobility week bike winners