Galway Cycling Campaign » Press Releases

Seamus Quirke Road: Loan was a chance to force a needed redesign

Oisín — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:47:59 +0000

The Galway Cycling Campaign has expressed disappointment at the news that the elected city council have given permission city officials to take out a larger loan to allow the Seamus Quirke Road works to continue. The Cycling Campaign have previously expressed serious concerns about the current design for the Seamus Quirke road and view it as unworkable from the perspective of cycling as a form of transport and a highly questionable use of public money. According to the cyclists, when the road is finished, many cyclists will find it safer and more convenient to stay in the bus lanes and ignore the cycle facilities being built on the road. They also say that the design will encourage other cyclists to use the footpaths and to cycle on the wrong side of the road.

“We cannot see this being anything other than a mess when it is finished” said Campaign PRO Oisin O’Nidh. The cyclists say the city council should have used the loan request to impose design changes on the officials responsible. “Taking out the sections of raised cycle path and providing on-road cycle lanes the length of the road would solve many of the problems” stated Mr. O’Nidh. The cyclists say in all probability to would been cheaper and certainly easier to construct without the cycle paths. The cyclists have described some aspects of the design as “bizarre” such as the requirement that cyclists accessing Shantalla Rod must hop-up on the footpaths as part of the manoeuvre.

The Seamus Quirke Rd redesign has been controversial since it was announced in 2002. At that time the city council engineer responsible, Mr. Joe Tansey stated that cyclists would be required to “dismount and become pedestrians” at every junction. This design aspect was thrown out by An Bord Pleanala following an oral hearing into the scheme.

Comment: This shows the route the designers of the current scheme expect cyclists to take to access the Rahoon road/Shantalla Rd if coming from Knocknacarra – a normal right turn has been broken into four separate manoeuvres and potential points of delay – this includes a section where cyclists are supposed to take to a footpath to get around the corner.

The Cycle Campaigns Analysis is that many cyclists will just cross the road further up and cycle on the footpaths the wrong way. More confident cyclists will ignore the cycle paths and stay in the bus lanes since that provides a better “line” into the junction.

Seamus Quirke Road – Cyclists issue safety warning over cycle paths

Oisín — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:50:32 +0000

The Galway Cycling Campaign is issuing a safety warning for users of the Seamus Quirke road where traffic was recently switched over from the existing road to a newly constructed section. The new section of road includes intermittent footpath structures on one side that are eventually intended to become cycle paths. The Cycling Campaign are concerned that some cyclists are using these to cycle on the wrong side of the road against the normal flow of traffic. They point out that using cycle facilities in this manner is associated with up to 12 fold increases in the risk of collision with cars at the side roads. Side roads and junctions already account for 75% of car/bicycle crashes. Researchers in Finland, Germany, the US and Sweden have all identified the issue.

The issue is that, when turning at side-roads motorists are not accustomed to looking for cyclists coming from the wrong side at speed. Calling for vigilance from city motorists campaign PRO Oisín Ó Nidh stated “we have to remember that Ireland is a country where there is little history of cycle training or of educating cyclists in the safe use of roads, also the same goes for motorists – as a result many Irish cyclist’s have no idea of the limitations of these cycle facilities and are putting themselves in danger in the incorrect belief that they are actually safer. This is also the case for cyclists using the cycle path going with the flow of traffic. They also have an increased risks of collisions compared with being on the road” Addressing cyclists using the road he added “it may feel more vulnerable to stay in the main traffic lane but the evidence suggests you may be safer on the road where drivers are looking rather than on the cycle paths.”

The Cycling Campaign have previously expressed serious concerns about the current design for the Seamus Quirke road and view it as unworkable from the perspective of cycling as a form of transport and a highly questionable use of public money. In their analysis, when the road is finished, many cyclists will find it safer and more convenient to stay in the bus lanes and ignore the cycle facilities. PRO Mr Ó Nidh states “if cyclists ignore the cycle facilities it will also make the paths safer for pedestrians. The cycle path chicanes at the Bus Stops will lead to the increased risk of collisions between pedestrians and cyclists”

Sources:

Sweden: Leif Linderholm: Signalreglerade korsningars funktion och olycksrisk för oskyddade trafikanter ─ Delrapport 1: Cyklister. Institutionen för trafikteknik, LTH: Bulletin 55, Lund 1984, In: »Russian Roulette« turns spotlight of criticism on cycleways, Proceedings of conference »Sicherheit rund ums Radfahren«, Vienna 1991.
USA: A. Wachtel and D. Lewiston: Risk factors for bicycle-motor vehicle collisions at intersections, Journal of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, pp 30-35, September, 1994.
Denmark: S.U. Jensen, K.V. Andersen and E.D. Nielsen: Junctions and Cyclists, Velo-city ‘97 Barcelona, Spain .
Finland: M Rasanen and H. Summala: The safety effect of sight obstacles and road markings at bicycle crossings, Traffic Engineering and Control, pp 98-101, February, 1998

Galway City Bikeshare welcome but new design guidance needed

Oisín — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:31:01 +0000

The Galway Cycling Campaign is warmly welcoming the Governments interest in extending Dublin Bike type bike share schemes to Galway and other cities. But the cyclists caution that a hard-nosed and holistic approach is needed to maximise the benefits. The Dublin Bike scheme has been a resounding success with 2.5 million journeys taken as of September 2011. According to the cyclists, the regional schemes must be either integrated with, or compatible with, the Dublin scheme. “It has to operate as ‘national’ membership” said Oisin O’Nidh, campaign PRO “a Dublin bike user should be able to get off the train and use a Galway bike and vice versa – membership of one bikeshare scheme should entitle the user to use all schemes”.
The cyclists also stress that new design guidance will be needed to deliver the necessary infrastructural changes recommended by the consultants: Jacobs engineering of Dublin. To support the proposed schemes, the consultants have recommended access improvements for cyclists raising issues such as access to pedestrian areas and two-way cycling on one-way streets. According to the cyclists, latest Irish design guidance produced by the National Transport Authority (NTA) appears to neglect the issue of cyclist access to pedestrian zones and vehicle-restricted areas. In contrast they point out as long ago as 1983 it was established in German practice that forbidding cycling in pedestrian areas should be avoided, and measures were then identified to reduce potential conflicts. In the UK, it has long been stressed that there is a need to ensure that pedestrianisation schemes do not result in cyclists being forced to use unsuitable alternative routes, and official guidance has been available since 1986.
A similar problem applies with two-way cycling on one-way streets. The latest NTA guidance only appears to consider the matter in terms of segregated cycle facilities. “In a constricted mediaeval city, we cannot be limited to segregated cycle facilities as the only solution” pointed out Mr. O’Nidh “we don’t have the space”. The cyclists point out that best practice in other countries uses a range of solutions including so called “false one-way streets” using bicycle-only gateways. Another approach is to simply make such streets two-way for cyclists. The cyclists use the example of Belgium where in 2004 the then Minister simply imposed two-way use on all one-way streets where the available road width and traffic speeds matched defined conditions. Campaign chair Shane Foran continued “This is a bigger issue than bikeshare, in Ireland we also need guidance on suitable road widths in towns, advice on making traffic calming cyclist-friendly and safer layouts at traffic signals. These are all matters that are not well treated in current NTA guidance. Adopting outside design guidance in support of bikeshare will provide other vital tools to promote cycling.”

Examples of alternative guidance
* Local Transport Note 2/86 “Shared use by Cyclists and Pedestrians” UK DOT
* Local Transport Note 1/89 “Making Way for Cyclists” UK DOT
* Trevallian P., Morgan J. 1993 “Cycling in Pedestrian Areas” Transport Research Laboratory Report 15, Crowethorne
* Cycling England Design Checklist
* Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure: Guidelines for Planning and Design: Institution of Highways and Transportation, Cyclists Touring Club, 1996
* Lancashire the Cyclists County

Cyclists propose roundabout as a way around impasse over Morris Junction changes

Oisín — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:25:38 +0000

The Galway Cycling Campaign is proposing a roundabout on the R339 (Old Monivea Rd) at Ballybane as a way of dealing with local concerns over access. The concerns have arisen as a result of proposals to replace the Morris Roundabout on the N6 with so-called intelligent traffic lights. The new junction layouts will result in banned turns that make it difficult for traffic on the old Monivea Rd to access the Ballybane Rd. The cycle campaign shares these concerns. “The old Monivea Rd is a natural cycling route in and out of the city,” said Campaign PRO Oisín Ó Nidh. When making their submission on the scheme, the cyclists say they “actively considered” recommending a roundabout at this location but left it out in the end due to concerns about rat running. Now that the views of the local community are clear, they say the roundabout is back on the table.
“We should be very clear that we are not talking about a typical Irish roundabout that favours movement by car over people who wish to walk or cycle,” continued Mr. Ó Nidh. Instead the cyclists say what is needed is a “continental” type roundabout as used in the Netherlands that is designed to encourage slower traffic speeds, takes account of the presence of cyclists in the traffic stream and allows pedestrians to cross the road. These roundabouts can also have raised pedestrian crossings or zebra crossings to further improve safety. Zebra crossings are already in use on roundabouts in Portlaoise and Limerick, and the cycle campaign says it would be great to see Galway get on board with modern thinking on traffic management.
In their proposal on the Morris and Font schemes, the cyclists recommended the removal of some cycle lanes and the widening of others, especially where cyclists are directed between lanes of traffic. “If cyclists are travelling between two streams of cars, they need more space — up to 3m,” said Mr. O’Nidh. The cyclists have also questioned the absence of bike boxes at the traffic lights, as found at Moneennageesha, raising concerns of a lack of inter-visibility with HGV drivers. For similar reasons of safety, they have also called for stop lines to be amended so that crossing pedestrians are clearly visible to waiting HGV drivers.

NUI Galway Green Fair

fiona — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:21:38 +0000

We always keen to talk to cyclists, and find out what concerns and issues are important to them. Towards this end, we took part in the annual Green Fair at NUI Galway on the 25th of January 2011. The fair aimed to help create awareness of how students and staff can all reduce their impact on the environment.

GCC at the NUI Galway Green Fair

Here, we had the opportunity to speak to a wide range of people who use bikes for transport, recreation or for sport, from occasional cyclists, leisure cyclists, commuters, competitive road bikers, mountain bikers and bike hobbyists alike. All day long, we repeatedly heard people call for increased consideration for cyclists by other road users; safer infrastructure – better surfaced and improved design of roads; slower traveling speeds by other road users within urban areas; and more secure and available bike parking. Many thanks for those who engaged in discussions and took the time to express and share their great ideas on making Galway more cycling-friendly.

A focus on cycling issues was a strong theme at the event, with Critical Mass encouraging folk to come along to their monthly Saturday cycles, and the student’s Eco Soc lobbying with a petition for a bike workshop on campus. Cycling is an extremely efficient and enjoyable way of negotiating the city, and the representation of so many groups and attendees with an interest in getting around Galway city and county by bike was impressive. It points to Galway’s regrowing and thriving bike scene.

Promoting positive images of cycling

The Green Fair also gave us a great opportunity to further promote a positive image of cycling, by handing out free high visibility vests, clever spoke reflectors, t-shirts, and the hugely popular waterproof seat covers (which help to keep your saddle dry when parked – ingenious!).

Special thanks to Dr. Aoife Collins, NUI Galway’s Environmental Manager for her invitation and organisation of the event.

Cycling Campaign Launches Smarter Travel Project with Calendar

James — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:24:42 +0000

The Galway Cycling Campaign has launched its Smarter Travel funded Image of Cycling in Galway project with a high-quality calendar celebrating cycling in Galway city and county. Launching the calendar, city mayor Michael Crowe said, “Anyone in business knows the necessity for good marketing; the business of promoting cycling is no different. With these calendars, Galway has again showcased the grassroots talent that makes Galway an icon for other Irish cities.”

Composed of stunning photographs by up-and-coming talents Chris Tierney and Peter Fedrizzi, the calendars cover all aspects of cycling in Galway and the cyclists who make up all facets of life in Galway city and county. There are cycling teachers, cycling college lecturers, and the smiling children at Galway’s annual Bike Week Treasure Hunt. The amazing success of the Green Schools Travel program is epitomised in a photo of the children of Eagles Nest national school in Renvyle tearing down a local beach on their bikes. There are stories of how cycling helped people overcome adversity, such as Liam Cullinane, who was able to regain his independence after a severe bout of meningitis, and local hurling star Dave Collins, who cycled back to fitness after a catastrophic injury on the pitch.

There is a cycling Garda and a bus driver who cycles to work every day. The arts are featured, with Páraic Breathnach relating the story of his first bike, and Natalia Surina, a harper whose bike is her first choice in transport. The sport of cycling is celebrated with local champion Sadhbh Baxter of the West Coast Wheelers. The grass roots of cycling activism in Galway is also captured in the monthly Critical Mass bike rides, with balloon-festooned cyclists flying the flag for fun (and politics with a small p)!

The calendars are just one aspect of a larger €28,000 Image of Cycling in Galway project co-ordinated by Justyna Kocjan on behalf of the Galway Cycling Campaign. As part of the project, a unified brand and logo for cycling in Galway has been developed by graphic designers Simon Fleming and Alexa Mottram under the catchphrase “Treibheanna ar Rothair” (“Tribes on Bikes”) and will be promoted via various promotional items across the city and county.

The calendars are freely available in bike shops, outdoors shops, Green Schools, Charlie Byrne’s bookshop, Galway City Council, Galway Transportation Unit, HSE Health Promotion, NUIG, and GMIT, and can also be requested by emailing info@galwaycycling.org.

For more information, visit our websites:
www.galwaycycling.org
www.tribesonbikes.ie

ENDS

Notes for journalists

Galway Cycling Campaign:
Formed after a large public meeting in 1998, the Galway Cycling Campaign works to promote cycling as a healthy, convenient and accessible form of transport in Galway city and county. The €28,000-funded “Image of Cycling in Galway” is just one of a number of projects the Cycling Campaign is involved with to promote Galway as Ireland’s Cycling City. Working with the Chamber of Commerce, the campaign has also obtained Smarter Travel projects funding of €400,000 for bike parking at city businesses and €8,000 to train and support Workplace Cycle Champions at offices and factories. Other activities include the annual Bicycle Treasure hunt for the city’s younger cyclists and the Faster by Bike in Galway project (co-funded by the City Council and the HSE), which puts signs up on traffic lights with safety messages, indicating typical cycling times to key destinations. The Cycling Campaign also produces cycle skills leaflets that are now being reproduced in Waterford and Dublin.

Photography:
© Christopher Tierney
www.chrisdidthis.com
christopher.tierney@gmail.com

Logo design:
Alexa Mottram
alexamottram@gmail.com

Simon Fleming
www.simonfleming.ca
contact@simonfleming.ca

Text editing:
Stan Carey
www.stancarey.com
stan@stancarey.com

Irish text translation and editing:
Gearóid Ó Casaide
Liam Ó hAisibéil

Website design:
James Gallagher

October Meeting

James — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:50:45 +0000

It’s been awhile since our last meeting so we would like to let you know what’s going on and hearing about how you would like to get involved. Thanks to the 091 Labs space we’re going to be having our next meeting at their place (see: http://091labs.com/contact/ for details). Entry is via the side of the building (where you turn towards the Radisson Hotel) and you can bring your bike inside. The space has a small tuck shop: Tea/Coffee/soft drinks and sometimes chocolate on sale, just throw the money in the tin by the kettle.

On the agenda for this meeting, along with anything you would like to talk about, is:

Engagement with city officials and city councillors; catch up on the Seamus Quirke Road scheme and City Development Plan.
Traffic light signs – Signs are collected and the cable ties bought we need to get wood for the mountings and then get it dome
Cycling Champions in workplaces
Image of Cycling project.
Quick report on national events.

We’d love to see you all, so please come by.

(The image used in this post is by Richard Gillespie from his Flickr stream

Dangerous Roundabouts to be Tackled Under the City Development Plan

Oisín — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:21:44 +0000

Councillors passed a Galway Cycling Campaign/Community Forum motion at Monday night’s Council meeting that will see the notorious pedestrian- and cyclist-unfriendly roundabouts of Galway City tackled under the latest City Development Plan.

Under the new Plan, which will be in place by January 2011, the City Executive will be committed to addressing the significant difficulties posed by roundabouts for pedestrians and cyclists. The Plan will compel the Council to explore remedial treatments, such as raised zebra crossings, in order to improve the safety of non-motorised transport users.

Roundabouts on national routes in Portlaoise and Limerick City have already been re-designed to include raised zebra crossings and zebra crossings, and hopefully Galway City will be next

said Oisin O’Nidh, PRO of the Galway Cycling Campaign.

Roundabout in Portlaoise town with two lane entries and raised zebra crossings

The new City Development Plan will also endorse the ‘Hierarchy of Solutions’ in the Government’s National Cycle Policy Framework. This document, which supports the remedial treatment of roundabouts, prioritises traffic reduction, traffic calming and road redesign over dedicated cycling facilities in order to create a pedestrian- and cycle-friendly urban environment. According to Mr O’Nidh,

The inclusion of the Hierarchy of Solutions will enable the City Council to do more to promote cycling ith less revenue. It is the perfect solution for Local Authorities in ifficult economic times.

However, according to Campaign Chair Shane Foran, Galway’s development as Ireland’s Cycling City could be undermined by the actions of Council Director of Services, Ciaran Hayes, who successfully opposed a motion that would have provided primary school children with a network of backstreet routes to school. Mr Foran said:

Cycling to primary school has been in steep decline in Ireland for the past 20 years – down 83% between 1986 and 2006. Proactive approaches such as safe routes to schools are needed to address the low levels of cycling among school children and to foster a culture of cycling for the future. By opposing such measures, the City Council Executive has missed out on a perfect opportunity to dramatically increase the number of young cyclists in Galway, and at the same time ease the chronic traffic congestion that the city currently suffers from during school term.

Groody roundabout Limerick on the N7 out of Limerick towards Dublin

July 2010: Cyclists face doomsday as Director of Services says Doughiska is the model for the City.

Shane — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:50:55 +0000

The issue of the Seamus Quirke Road came up at the City Council’s Transport Policy committee meeting on Monday 5th of July. The presentation by Joe Tansey, the head of the Galway Transportation Unit (GTU), confirmed that concerns and recommendations suggested by the Community Forum had been rejected almost in their entirety. There will be no ASLs at the junctions running along the main axis. Cyclists will be directed inside left-turning traffic. Cyclist will be required to swerve behind the bus stops and loose priority to crossing passengers. The bus stops will have guard rails to direct passengers out one side only. Cyclists who want to turn right will be expected to pull in to the left hand side of the road and either press a button or wait for the opposing green light. The content of Mr. Tansey’s presentation also reconfirmed his long-stated objective to effectively pedestrianise cyclists at the Dean (Fort Lorenzo) and Browne (Corrib Park) roundabouts. While it was stated that the GTU would look into cycle facilities “at” the roundabouts, in practice this amounts to the same thing.

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.

Councillors Brian Walsh and Derek Nolan asked some pointed questions while Councillor Hildegarde Naughton also expressed concerns. Major concerns were repeatedly expressed by the community reps Derrick Hambleton and Shane Foran, supported by Mary Francis O’Conghaile .

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.

June 2010: Community Forum condemns Quirke road redesign but avoids pulling plug on Areas Fund bid

Shane — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:53:09 +0000

The Galway City Community Forum acts as an umbrella for over 200 groups in the city and has always had strong and detailed policies on sustainable travel. These policies are developed and promoted by the Forum’s Transport subgroup, which includes community nominees to the Transport Policy Committee of the City Council and the Integrated Transport committee of the City Development Board.

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.”