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Promoting Dublin's cycling culture

Let's face it. Dublin's cycle paths are un-attractive. Many times I have driven past a cyclist looking despondent, getting splashed when each passing car drives through a puddle next to him. One of the main cycle lane in the city is located along the N11. It's a fairly direct route, starting at Loughlinstown, before passing by Stillorgan, Donnybrook and eventually emerging at Leeson street just off St. Stephen's Green. However some cyclists would criticise it for having a poor surface in parts, and having issues with cars and buses travelling at close proximity to them.

A contribution on a thread on Boards.ie from a cyclist who uses the N11 cycle lane frequently.

I was sitting on the Luas a few weeks ago and a thought struck me. The Luas green line runs directly into St. Stephen's Green from Cherrywood. It originally had a terminus at Sandyford. This route is incredibly direct, passing through Dundrum, Milltown and Ranelagh before heading onto Harcourt street. Perhaps, it would be possible to build a cycle lane along the same route. It would not come into contact with any traffic, allowing for streams of cyclists living in south Dublin to travel to work in the city centre safely and more peacefully than they currently can. Certainly such a route would be beneficial in the development of Dublin's transport infrastructure, in my eyes.

Highlighted in red is roughly the path taken by the Luas Green Line.
Right at the bottom of the map is Stillorgan Reservoir.

We really need to incentivise people to cycle to work. A cycling culture is developing in the city, but it will only prosper in the suburbs if the necessary infrastructure is put in place to support cyclists. People won't be willing to commute from the suburbs to the city centre by bicycle if they do not have an attractive route to travel. Perhaps my idea is somewhat ludicrous seeing as there is not a lot of space either side of the tracks and most of the track is bordered by gardens of houses. I really just wanted to create food for thought about developing a safe cycle lane into the city centre independent from the road.

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