Sir, – Ray Bassett (Letters, April 23rd) bemoans changes to the road layout in the Phoenix Park that prevent motorists from parking their vehicles along Chesterfield Avenue. He suggests that this has caused "chaos" in preventing motorists from finding parking spaces in order to visit Dublin Zoo. Further, he concludes that the "only reason for this perverse decision was an ideological antagonism to those wishing to arrive by car".
As a frequent user of the cycling infrastructure on Chesterfield Avenue before and after this change, I might tentatively suggest some other reasons to Dr Bassett that might have motivated this decision.
First, cyclists are far safer under the new road layout, as they are now separated from both pedestrians and motor traffic with further protection in the form of bollards.
While Dr Bassett is of course correct that there were cycle lanes through the grass near the road before this change, the road layout was not “perfectly adequate”. These cycle lanes were very frequently used as footpaths by pedestrians, as the relatively narrow designated footpath was some distance further from the road and on the other side of a railing in places. Collisions between cyclists and pedestrians, often causing serious injuries, have occurred here more frequently than is necessary.
Second, pedestrians are safer under the new layout. A large proportion of the pedestrians on the cycle lanes were those who had emerged from their cars, often with their families in order to visit the zoo. This is understandable because in order to access the designated footpath, they would have had to cross the cycle lane, scale a railing and walk some distance over the grass. This might have been difficult for those “with young children and buggies”. If it is “simply wrong” to require families to walk longer distances, I cannot see how it is any less wrong to expose them to the danger of walking along a busy cycle lane.
Third, the new road layout gives considerably more space to pedestrians, with two parallel footpaths running the length of Chesterfield Avenue. This road layout was first trialled during the pandemic, and while the imperative for strict social distancing may have subsided to some extent, it definitely facilitates more people walking in and enjoying the Phoenix Park.
Dr Bassett may well take the view that these benefits are outweighed by the costs imposed on motorists. However, he should be more careful in his consideration of the legitimate reasons that may have motivated this decision before accusing the Office of Public Works of being blinded by ideology. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTOPHER
McMAHON,
Dublin 2.