Dublin Cycling Campaign applauds Dublin City Council for its vision to dramatically enhance the public realm of College Green by creating a world-class pedestrian plaza and cycle route (as per http://www.dublincity.ie/college-green). Reducing motor traffic in this area presents the opportunity to create dedicated space for cycling in a design that minimises conflict for all modes, including the already large volumes of walking and cycling. We look forward to this area, previously a major barrier to sustainable mobility in the city centre, becoming a shining example of a new vision for Dublin City.

Cycling already accounts for 27% of all traffic on Dame Street, making it the most popular cycling area in Dublin, in spite of the current hostile conditions. With an expanding population and national policy to increase the share of walking and cycling trips across the city to 25% in the coming years, this area needs to be equipped to handle a proportionate increase

We’re calling on the City Council to guarantee the delivery of a new College Green that meets the needs for current cycling and walking volumes and is future-proofed for projected demand. The area needs to deliver for all users of the space, no matter where they’re coming from or going to, whether they’re walking through or lingering; whether cycling with children or cycling to work. The needs of visually impaired people, deaf people, children and the elderly need to be catered for at the proposed plaza in particular.

The tried and tested Dutch model for cycling, employing high quality segregated routes and widespread permeability, is the only proven way to realise truly inclusive levels of cycling. Cycle flows must have the same attention to detail as public transport to unlock the true potential of cycling in Dublin. We’re concerned that the latest drawings do not convey this.

Specifically, we’re calling for:

• A detailed design that takes advantage of the principles of sustainable safety and does not use shared walking and cycling areas, in accordance with section 1.9.3 of the National Cycling Manual (NCM). We view this as central to the success or failure of the plaza;
• Use of self-enforcing separated cycle tracks which are well-defined visually and spatially, using angled kerbs, grade-separation and colouring to create new bike permeability for Trinity, Dame Street, Grafton Street Quarter, O’Connell Street and other destinations in the area;
• Use of bus stop bypasses at all stops on Dame Street and all other possible measures to separate busses and cycles in the area, including bidirectional paths in accordance with the NCM/Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets requirements.

660 Dubliners have already backed our calls for improved walking and cycling commitments in this year’s City Development Plan, joining almost 8000 overwhelmingly positive submissions on the 2015 Dublin City Centre Transport Study. The leading business groups have also backed the College Green proposals, which will make the city even more attractive to the world’s leading companies and their workers. The council has already shown what quality cycling routes can achieve in Dublin with the Grand Canal Cycleway. It’s now time to build on that success.

Dublin Cycling Campaign urges all members of the public to show their support for a world-class pedestrian plaza and cycle route by emailing City Council offices (traffic@dublincity.ie) by 5 pm on 24 May.

It is critical that the Council is supported in making a plaza that gets all the details right for walking and cycling in order to support and develop these modes today and into the future.

You can also support our campaign on myUplift.ie “Supporting College Green Plaza”

1. Dame Street/George’s Street junction, Dublin City Centre Cycle Count, May 2015
2. National Cycle Policy Framework, 2009, Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy, 2010
3. Irish Times, September 2015
4. Statements on DublinTown and Dublin Chamber of Commerce websites, 2016