Reviving Cork City Center

So as I’m currently in between finishing off a few longer blog posts on some of the cycling infrastructure around the city and suburbs and working insane hours (amazingly the two aren’t the most compatible!) I just thought I’d throw up something really quickly this evening. I found the following on the Evening Echo site via Facebook regarding a two year action plan to revive Cork City Center.

Now, a quick challenge to anyone reading this:

Go to that link, here it is again:

Hit CTRL+F

Individually, type all the following:

Cycle

Cycling

Cyclists

Bikes

Bike

Bicycles

Bicycle

Seriously. Where the f*ck are all the above?

Type that last one for giggles. It provides one less result than the most popular result above.

 

Seriously. What numbers, individually or combined (you get to choose!) do you see?

Are you as surprised as I was?

Now. How about a snazzy graph showing an actual revival:

https://twitter.com/grescoe/status/624205455456403456

You'll notice a word there that doesn't show up in our council's plan. However it correlates with "retail sales sky-rocketed". Did you guess rockets? I did at first. But second time around I got it.

 

Oh oh…. If you’re still there - Try this for size… an actual report. With words. And stats. And research based evidence of what is working:

http://archinect.com/news/article/91832887/protected-bike-lanes-strengthen-city-economy-report-finds

There's one recurring theme in that report regarding improving a cities economics. 

And if you’re not a reader of longish articles, just read this point:

“Cyclists are great for retailers.

People who use bikes to run errands tend to stop by retailers more often, spending at least as much (if not more) money than any other customer, plus they require less parking space. Overall, proximity to protected bike lanes can increase business traffic and potential spending.”

Emphasis is mine. But wasn’t business what the Gardaí said they were concerned about when speaking to cyclist.ie?

 

“Cyclist.ie added: “We tried to impress on them the real safety issue of dangerous overtaking of cyclists and how drivers were skimming past riders in bus lanes and general vehicle lanes but the response was that it’s the given space we all have to operate in and drivers have to go about their business even if it meant squeezing dangerously past us. They maintained that this problem is the responsibility of the design engineers in road authorities.”

Oh no… just the usual shifting blame to someone else for dangerous driving behaviour. And also emphasising the importance of the 'driver business'. My bad. The ones with the money and spending power to keep our cities alive. Although I think I saw a report somewhere saying otherwise . . .no. . . it's just the tiredness kicking in and dreams starting . . .

*dream links zzzzz

http://www.peopleforbikes.org/statistics/category/protected-bike-lane-statistics

 zzzzz San Francisco using the same report as above to argue for protected lanes zzzzz https://www.sfbike.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Protected_Bike_Lanes_Mean_Business.pdf

  zzzzz end dream links*

A Start!

Wow. It seems like only an eternity ago I said I'd start to write about cycling in Cork and my Twitter bio doesn't lie when I say I'm a *cough cough* 'slight' procrastinator. 

This is a start anyway! So on Wednesday I ventured out for my first cycle in quite a while on the old Railway Line to Passage West from the city. It's a cycle I absolutely love and with scenery like this you can see why!

I was delighted to see a few changes along the path mainly regarding parts repaved and a few signs up to remind everyone using the path to watch out for everyone else. 

However thanks to Twitter/ the Internet and some of the people I've found, follow and try learn from, I've found myself being more aware of the ‘where’ I cycle and ‘what’ I'm cycling on. 

These are just some of my observations from that cycle. Please feel free to comment or tweet me! I'd obviously really like to know what others think. 

Observation one - "Roads"

Firstly if you look at the following sign you'd be forgiven for thinking you were approaching a main road and that traffic will be speeding along the roads as they unfortunately tend to do:

However the cars are approaching via a 'road' that is coming via a car park and entering residential apartments. Now normally a reduced speed limit sign is evident in car parks but not here. Why?  

This is a small clip of the crossing:

 Surely in a car park used mainly by people walking the old railway line, there should be signs for the drivers entering or exiting the apartment complex to be aware of children, dogs, cyclists and pedestrians? In my opinion the onus should be on drivers to be aware since their vehicles can kill but also should this not be a priority pedestrian zone? In my opinion this crossing should be giving right of way to the pedestrianised users but all the signs are warning pedestrians and cyclists. The onus is totally on pedestrians. Why?

The same again as you enter Passage West:

This is a car park but again - not one sign for drivers (who in a matter of minutes will be pedestrians/cyclists after parking) to ask they watch out for dogs, children, walkers, cyclists - nothing. Why? I find this mentality of putting the onus on the most vulnerable to be quite perverse. I mean when you look at the request made to the pedestrianised on this sign....

  

Add to the above the following:

I failed to notice the part where I'm supposed to share paths with this:

But again - no signs up requesting the car owners to keep the path clear for those it is solely intended for. A similar example when you cycle from Ballincollig to the city or vice versa, (I don't have a picture right now) pedestrians and cyclists are clearly warned to beware the residents exiting their driveways. Again the implication here (feel free to disagree) is that even on the paths we've been designated, the onus is still on us to beware of cars and their drivers. How do you encourage the casual cyclist to enjoy a commute to work if it's all *warning warning warning* signs and markings?  There’s no sign telling the drivers travelling down that part of the road at 100km/h that cars are exiting driveways and to exercise caution.

I mean this is the attitude and philosophy of the Dutch:

"Cyclists are not dangerous; cars and car drivers are: so car drivers should take the responsibility for avoiding collisions with cyclists. This implies that car drivers are almost always liable when a collision with a bicycle occurs and should adapt their speed when bicycles share the roads with cyclists."

Long way to go here before we share that philosophy.

Observation Two: the terrible lack of observations!

To build a cycling mentality and nation, you need to put the infrastructure in. 'Build it and they will come' (could be paraphrasing) is what a group of people said in the 1970's in a now cycling pariah. The liars. I mean, who were they to think they should plan for their country decades down the line rather than the next election cycle? I mean the statistics prove they built 'it' but the statistics also show.... hang on.... wait - 'they' did come? 

via here

Wow. It's like once there's safe infrastructure in place, people will use bikes?

Anyway - I digress. The opportunity for an amazing segregated cycling corridor from Monkstown via Rochestown/Douglas or the Railway Line is huge. Put in something like the Green Wave from Copenhagen and you've got a relaxed 20-30 minute commute. Go via the Railway Line and when you come out in either Mahon or Centre Park Road - there's space for a two-way cycling route. You could make Centre Park Road one way to cars and Monaghan Road a one way for the opposite direction so you still have access to the businesses there. 

 Lots of space for a one way system for cars and two way cycling facilities

But you're prioritising cycling. Grand ideas? Sure. I am not a fan of the small piecemeal bits that are currently happening. It's good to see but to engage more people you need to offer cycling as an actual safe commuting tool. Not something that once you get to the city center, you have a few lanes around the place. Lots of people want to cycle - but what safe facilities do you have even from Douglas? None. There's a lane but it's one cars and buses cut through on the narrower parts of the road. And with infrastructure like this:

how do first timers get the confidence to commute? 

Anyway, these are just some initial thoughts on this, the slightly delayed project of mine!