Active Travel Infrastructure and Uptake

In relation to Objective 4.4 (Active Travel),  supporting the proposed Lee to Sea Greenway (see table 4.3) and hope for a timely delivery (4.30), particularly for its missing City Centre and western sections. The L2S would directly serve UCC’s Main and Western Campuses and connect it to numerous trip attractors and key residential areas across the city. Together with a spur along the existing Currahene Greenway it would follow the proposed “Innovation Corridor” (see above) with a highest quality active travel route.

Traffic light timing is currently favourable towards private cars. The wait times as a pedestrian or as a cyclists can be offputing to commuters. Given the variability of weather in Ireland, reducing the commute time for pedestrians and cyclists would do a lot to encourage uptake, as there is a lower likelihood of getting caught in the rain.

Traffic calming measures are also needed to improve road safety, this will also encourage a modal shift towards active travel. The banning of certain vehicles from the city centre, such as HGVs and SUVs, which are inherintly more dangerous to other road users, would be a big step towards improving road safety, and encouraging the uptake of cycling.

The timeframes layed out in Table 4.2, are unabitious, and fail to appreciate the needed for a rapid modal shift. Public and active transport projects should be prioritised and accelerated.