Dublin could have the longest urban seafront promenade in Europe, extending 22 kilometres from Sutton to Sandycove, if a visionary plan unveiled yesterday is adopted by the authorities.
The aim of the "S2S" (Sutton to Sandycove) project is to link up existing "bits and pieces" of promenade to create a continuous route for walking and cycling around Dublin Bay, at an estimated cost of €20 million.
The project grew out of the Dún Laoghaire Coastal Plan, which includes provision for a seafront walkway. But it would extend this right around the bay, incorporating a cycleway running alongside the promenade.
It would also extend right into the heart of the city along the north and south quays, where the Dublin Docklands Development Authority is laying out a walkway and cycleway on the campshires between the road and the river.
S2S is being championed by a small but dedicated voluntary group that includes Mr Cyril Forbes, a former director of the DDDA, and Mr Michael Collins, a former president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland.
They say it has the potential to be "the most used public amenity in the city". Based on the numbers that walk on Dún Laoghaire pier and the promenade at Clontarf at weekends, it could attract can up to 100,000 people per week.
"If you lived in Dún Laoghaire and worked in the Custom House Docks, you'd be able to get into town by bike in less than 20 minutes even at rush hour, without ever having to pass a car", Mr Collins said with enthusiasm.
Though there were promenades in places around the bay, notably in Clontarf and Sandymount, and also good stretches of cycleways, such as between Sutton and the Bull Island causeway, the challenge was to link them up.
What S2S has in mind is an unbroken route that would be six metres wide, equally divided between cyclists and pedestrians, with high-quality seating, litter bins, eco-friendly lighting and steps/ramps on to the beach at intervals.
In some places, this would involve encroaching on the foreshore - for example, at Booterstown, where the promenade would be located on the seaward side of the DART line, edged by a new granite wall similar to the railway wall.
Negotiating a route along the harbour front in Dún Laoghaire will be problematic, but could be done by rearranging the road system in the area.
How to get around the Martello tower at Seapoint is also a sensitive design issue. Private ownership of the foreshore and rights of way at Maretimo, in Blackrock, might also present a problem, while residents of the six houses on Strand Road at Merrion Gates might object to the loss of direct access to the beach.
More difficulties are posed by the sensitive stretch of coastline between the old wooden bridge to the Bull Island and the causeway. Ideally, the promenade should be on the seaward side, but this would encroach on a nature reserve.
"Of the entire 22 kilometres, only about 150 metres are in the difficult category", Mr Collins explained. "But if we can get the project included as an objective in the relevant local authority development plans, it should be possible to do it.
"It would open up Dublin Bay for thousands of people to appreciate it," Mr Collins said. "And since the cycleway would be level along its entire length as well as traffic-free, it would encourage parents to let their kids cycle to school".
S2S has received a very positive response from the various statutory authorities - Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council, the DDDA and the Dublin Transportation Office, among others.
Mr John Henry, director of the DTO, said it was such a good idea that the city's business community "should get together to sponsor parts of it" as a major project for Dublin. Further information on the project may be obtained by emailing info@s2s.ie or by consulting the group's new website: www.s2s.ie
