Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn has accused the authority of "railroading in" a new cycleway which has been halted by a court order
The High Court yesterday ruled that the Council should stop work on the two-way system on the Strand Road and Beach Road in Sandymount in South Dublin.
Dublin City Council's Chief Executive has since said he will be "fighting the case" to continue the project despite a hold on works until April.
Owen Keegan added that the Council is "absolutely committed, we’re not going to disappear just because of this", and that the inconveniencing of motorists would not mark “the end of civilisation”.
Mannix Flynn said he has been contacted by concerned residents about the project.
"This is not the first time that I've had concerns from residents, many residents in Dublin, who are pro-cycling, who are pro the environment, who are pro-green, who just feel they are being bullied and set upon by these infrastructures being put up outside their doors without any type of due process or any proper consultation," he said.
From 1st March the hours of operation of the HGV cordon bounded by Merrion Road/Strand Road & Bath Avenue will become 24hrs. This change will run for a 6 month period in support of the Strand Road trial rapid deployment cycle route. More info: https://t.co/S0YP2jHXn0#StrandRoad pic.twitter.com/iJvD5mrt28
— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) February 25, 2021
"These are all being done under the general guise of COVID-19 measures, and the people in Sandymount and people in Ringsend and Irishtown are very pro-cycling, they have an alternative plan to place this particular cycle path on the promenade of Strand Road."
Councillor Flynn said the plans don't do anything to reduce traffic, rather "it simply throws the traffic into other areas".
"We all want safe cycling, we all want people to enjoy the environment, and we all want people to come back into the city," he explained.
"But you simply can't railroad this in under the kind of cloud of uncertainty in terms of the legalities of these matters."
Councillor Flynn also denied that the project has become an issue of locals versus cycling.
"I think it's very disingenuous of anybody to assume that we're heathens, that we're simply anti-cycling or that we're simply anti-improvement of the road.
"We want safety for everybody.
"But not at this expense, and I'll say this much, if this was a private enterprise or a private developer, and they had flaunted the law on this particular matter, by God, there would be hell to behold."
