Lane pain for locals as surveys begin on Limerick's smarter travel plan

RESIDENTS on a suburban Limerick road have criticised the council over plans to bring bike lanes down their thoroughfare.

Locals in the Fr Russell Road in Dooradoyle have received letters from the local authority informing them they are considering draft design options for cycle lanes.

Topographical survey works commenced at the end of last month, with the council engineers informing householders their boundary walls may be impacted.

“Therefore we would like to survey the boundary wall of your front garden and an area inside the boundary wall as part of this. The survey would involve taking ground levels, top of wall levels and identifying any chambers or gullies,” the letter from the local authority – seen by this newspaper – reads.

There is opposition to the plans, with residents forming a committee.

They point out the road is too narrow as it is to accommodate cycle lanes, while there is unease at the loss of car turning space in their front yards.

Tony Fitzgibbon said: “The proposals could lead to homes on the Fr Russell Road losing at least three metres from the front. That would mean the destruction of hedgeways there since the 1940s, trees which are there since the 1940s. It will reduce the size of our gardens, the size of our driveways. It will drastically reduce our ability to turn our cars around in our driveways”.

This in turn, he argued, could pose a danger to any cyclist, with a vehicle having to turn around on top of a bike lane.

“With the proposed width of the road, it means you’d have to reverse fully onto the far side of the road to get out. It’s already extremely tight for cars turning left into their properties. And very tight for cars coming out,” he said.

From plans he has seen, Mr Fitzgibbon claimed the width of the road is currently seven metres, with plans to introduce a cycle lane reducing it down to six metres.

Mr Fitzgibbon, whose home at the Fr Russell Road has been in the family since 1966, said instead, council should look at traffic calming measures which would help cyclists share the road with cars.

He says he hopes the plans for a cycle lane down the road will come before councillors in the form of a part eight application, which will allow them the chance to reject, or make changes to the project.

Mr Fitzgibbon insists residents are not “anti-cyclist”, but said “properly constructed safe cycle-ways” are needed.

One of his neighbours, who wished to be referred to as just Claire said: “You have to think safety first, and this is not safe”.

“It’s already such a narrow road. Putting a cycle lane, if they do this, we’ll drive in, but we will not be able to turn to get out. I’d have to reverse onto the road to get out onto a pedestrian crossing near a busy roundabout,” she said.

“You would be reversing out blind. I see older people walking up along here. If they put a cycle lane up around here, can you imagine having to reverse into that? It’s quite worrying,” she added.

Claire and her husband Robert – a keen cyclist himself – take care of an older relative, who has limited mobility. 

Limerick City and County Council released a statement to the Limerick Leader on the matter

"

Fr Russell Road was identified as a secondary cycle route in the Limerick Metropolitan Cycle Network Plan. Consultants have been appointed to design improved cycle and pedestrian facilities. Note the design is still at preliminary design stage with various options being examined.

In order to develop the various cross sections a number of property owners, at the St.Paul’s Roundabout end of Fr. Russell Road, were contacted to ask for consent to surveys just inside their boundary. This section of the road is a very constrained area with quite narrow pedestrian facilities and no cycle facilities. Additional survey information would allow for a more comprehensive assessment of the constructability of options and assess any visibility issues for private accesses along this section. Any Landowner who may be impacted by potential land take will be individually contacted to discuss the emerging option and how it may impact on their property.

Pending the outcome of the preferred design any trees that are removed will be supplemented by new tree planting/landscaping to mitigate the loss.

The objective of this scheme is to provide a safe road space for all road users. The scheme will go through a Part 8 Planning application, these plans will be available to the public and the public will be able to make a submission on the proposed scheme prior to any works being undertaken."