Cycling advocates may protest parking in lanes

By Joe Leogue

A new cycling advocacy group is to campaign for the expansion of the public bike scheme in Cork, and said it may engage in actions to protect cycle lanes in the city where motorists frequently park.

IBikeCork is the latest group to announce its plans for cycling on Leeside, joining other lobbying groups such as the Cork Cycling Campaign in providing a voice for the growing number of cyclists, locally.

IBikeCork is a separate group to the Cork Cycling Campaign and is more affiliated with the ideas and goals of the IBikeDublin group,” said a spokesperson.

Its goals are to help improve cycling infrastructure, push for greater enforcement of laws, and create more awareness of the unequal treatment non-motorised mobility users receive.

Our overall goals are to create the coming together of a successful national IBike Campaign,” the spokesperson said.

“Specific improvements would be working to get the Coke Bike scheme expanded, more protection of the existing cycle lanes and hopefully start constructive, open, dialogue regarding cycling with City Hall and our politicians.”

IBikeDublin is known for its cycle lane demonstrations where members stand along a lane acting as a barrier between it and the road to prevent motorists from parking along the paths. Its Cork counterpart has not ruled out similar action but said its immediate focus will be on seeking an expansion of the public bike scheme.

“We can’t rule out similar actions in Cork due to the amount of illegal parking on cycle lanes around the city but we also recognise the difficulty of this without the necessary support from the authorities.

“IBikeDublin does fantastic work highlighting illegal cycle lane parking. We hope to protect the contraflow lane on South Main Street in the not-too-distant future but, for now, our first call to action is to highlight suburban areas where Coke Bikes should be and could easily be put to increase usage and subscriptions,” it said.