Alex Greaney
The plan to put a bicycle lane on the Deansgrange road has been a long-fought battle, but it appears that it may be coming to its conclusion, although not without some dissent.
In 2021, dlr proposed that the Deansgrange Road be converted into a one-way for cars, to allow for a bicycle lane to be put in. This plan received much criticism, particularly from commuters and the business owners on the road. Eventually, this plan was shot down and several others were proposed, all of which were also rejected. Next, a bewildering plan to put a bicycle lane through Deansgrange graveyard was proposed and went to public consultation, but it was vehemently opposed by locals and many councillors.
It now appears as though there may finally be a plan that will go through. This plan involves maintaining two-way traffic on the road, but removing the car parking spaces along the road for residents. The council is still looking into ways to compensate residents for the loss of their parking spaces by considering other spots for parking.
It is very likely that this plan will go through considering most locals wanted to maintain the integrity of the graveyard and keep the convenience of two-way traffic on the road. However, many of the residents on Deansgrange road itself will still fight to stop this development.
One such resident, Brenda Dowling, a resident for 30 years, is concerned about the plans. She said: “It’s a lovely, small community that’s going to be destroyed. We’re not against the cycle lanes whatsoever. I’m all for looking after the climate and keeping people safe, but our safety is being ignored, we’re not being taken into consideration at all. Businesses won’t be able to get any deliveries and their customers won’t be able to get to them. We don’t know where we’re going to park. We’re really stuck and we’re afraid of what’ll happen to us.
“What do you do with your shopping and your children? In the depths of winter if you’re parked up the road or around the corner, we’re in a bad way, we don’t know what to do. We’ve no driveways so we rely on street parking because we have nothing else. They’re not giving us any alternative, there’s nowhere to park. They’re talking about making a nearby green area into 14 parking spaces, but not for the residents, for graveyard users.”
“We were completely unaware that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council were removing these parking spaces. It’s a disaster, we’ve so many older residents, we’ve ill residents, younger couples with babies and toddlers and it’s not going to be safe for people. They had a meeting on March 13th where they voted not to go through the cemetery. There were a lot of people upset over that.”
“They voted on a new motion to have two-way traffic and a two-way cycle track instead. There was no consultation, nothing. The residents knew absolutely nothing. A lot of councillors told us they didn’t realise it was removing all parking, they thought it was a much, much smaller number, possibly six spaces. It’s actually the parking of the whole road.”
A spokesperson for DLR County Council highlighted that for the past two and a half years they have been seeking to provide cycle facilities along Deansgrange Road to comply with their policy obligations and to complete the Active School Travel routes.
They said: “Throughout the various option assessments, more than 11 options were considered. Deansgrange Road is a particularly challenging road in terms of cross section and the reallocation of road space has consequences depending on the scheme that was agreed. Initially, we had proposed a one-way street. This would have retained parking on the road but removed the bus service in one direction.
“This was not supported by local residents, businesses, or councillors. We then proposed a scheme to utilise a section of the cemetery that would have retained two-way traffic and parking on Deansgrange Road, but again this was not supported. The scheme that was adopted by local councillors maintains two-way traffic and does not utilise the cemetery, but requires the removal of the parking.
“The scheme was voted on by local councillors and an amendment to the plan was passed at the March council meeting. The webcast of the meeting is available on our website. Our responsibility now is to complete the detailed design and construction of this scheme. We have looked and are continuing to look at potential mitigation measures for the loss of residential parking.
“Given the narrow cross section on Deansgrange Road there are very little options to provide additional parking close by, but we will continue to investigate what alternatives might be available,”
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