Contentious bike lane scheme gets green light in Cork town

The Section 38 scheme included proposals to provide bike lanes along both sides of the road, which would allow cyclists coming from the link road to cycle to Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin without the need to join vehicular traffic.

A contentious bike lane scheme is set to go ahead in a Cork town with revisions that include a set-down zone to address illegal parking.

It follows a decision by Cork city councillors to approve, without debate, a report on the Section 38 scheme proposed for the Leo Murphy or ‘link road’ scheme in Ballincollig.

The scheme, advertised in July, included proposals to provide bike lanes along both sides of the road, which would allow cyclists coming from the link road to cycle to Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin without the need to join vehicular traffic.

The scheme included plans to widen the existing 1.5m footpaths to 2m to provide more capacity for pedestrians, and to provide raised table crossings at all junctions to improve pedestrian safety.

It also included proposals for a two-way dedicated cycle track running east-west along a portion of the Carriganarra Rd, to connect to the exiting shared cycle\walkway on the western end of the scheme which extends to Station Rd.

Illegal parking

But the link road is close to Coláiste Choilm secondary school and illegal parking is an issue in its existing unprotected bike lanes, mostly at school drop-off and collection times.

A total of 33 submissions were received on the published plans and in their report to councillors, officials said several submissions raised concerns about the illegal parking on the unprotected bike lanes and requested that the design of the new scheme reduce the likelihood of illegal parking.

Officials said the scheme proposed the use of raised kerbs to fully segregate cycle tracks and prevent cars parking on them.

But they said this issue was “further explored” by members of the south-west ward local area committee, who focused on “the need to accommodate safe drop off/collection of students attending Colaiste Choilm”.

The report said: “Members agreed that a short duration set down zone be provided on the eastern side of Leo Murphy Road between the Link Road Business Centre/Murnane & O’Shea and GWS Engineering.”

 The proposed cycle infrastructure will now be positioned on the western side of the road to avoid potential conflicts and maintain appropriate widths and standards.

The scheme now includes the following amendments:

• the inclusion of a short duration set down/pick-up zone on the eastern side of Leo Murphy Road and the associated adjustment to cycle infrastructure;
• the inclusion of an additional controlled toucan crossing some 45m south of the junction of Main Street and Leo Murphy Road;
• the inclusion of an additional section of two-way cycle track heading northeast from the toucan crossing at Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin that connects to the old Carriganarra Road;
• the alteration of the design of the raised tables at junctions to improve safety for pedestrians;
• the inclusion of a raised table at the toucan crossing just west of the gaelscoil.

The report also said that raising the cycle track to the footpath level was considered by the design team but the frequency of entrances along the route would result in the cycle track ramping up and down too often, resulting in an uncomfortable riding experience.

“The cycle tracks on Leo Murphy Road will be 2m in width in each direction. This is sufficient for two cyclists to cycle side by side," the report said.