A chara, - Your Environment Correspondent, Frank McDonald, is to be congratulated for highlighting (The Irish Times, September 2nd) the many benefits enjoyed by cyclists such as myself when travelling about the city by pedal power.
However, the cycle lanes in our city are atrociously planned. A civil engineering colleague has informed me that no cyclist was involved in designing one of the city's first cycle lanes along the Stillorgan road, which is so bad that it is shunned by many bike users.
For example, part of the track placed on the pavement crosses driveway entrances to private houses, creating ramps that are painful to the posterior at anything greater than walking speed. The inbound lane forces the cyclist to turn left at UCD, even if one wishes to proceed straight ahead, thus creating a blind spot on the cyclist's right-hand shoulder making it difficult to see overtaking traffic or cars turning left into UCD. Coming out of town approaching the Foster's Avenue junction, the cycle track crosses a filter lane which is regularly blocked by traffic waiting to join the dual-carriageway because, unlike other junctions for vehicle users, there are no road markings that indicate to motorists that they should keep the cycle lane crossing clear.
Another sign of the dearth of imagination in catering for cyclists is to be found in the traffic calming "rampai" found in most suburban housing estates. These are quite literally a pain in the ass to the bike user. Because of them, cyclists are choosing to use busy national arteries instead of safer back roads. Why can't road planners include a narrow cycle channel in road humps?
Lastly, may I ask your newspaper to consider publishing a regular column on cycling matters? After all, you publish a weekly motoring page which regularly features the views of the car lobby. - Is mise,
Cian Molloy, Irwin Court, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.