Thread by @cosaingalway

Includes a return service.

Note the emphasis on making the route not just safer but also more manageable.

https://twitter.com/cycle_bus/status/1398198709175914497

This was the scene in Cappagh Park around 10h00 today. Two bikes parked.

Even though the Western Distributor Road is the main route to Cappagh, it's far from being safe, accessible and manageable for people travelling to the park on foot or by bike, even from nearby residential estates.

There isn't even a pedestrian crossing at or near the entrance.

The footpath on one side ends abruptly, because private property, as always, takes precedence over public safety.

The footpath on the opposite is taken over by drivers at busy times every week, for convenient parking close to the entrance.

The 3-arm roundabout at the end of the Western Distributor Rd has a zebra crossing on one side only. There is no readily apparent explanation for this planning decision. The siting of the zebra crossing appears to invite people to use the discontinuous footpath opposite the park.

Also inexplicable is the reasoning behind these short strips of painted cycle lane close to the roundabout. One section is about 10 metres long.

Children on bikes -- and some less confident adults -- cycle on the footpaths. The footpaths are also discontinuous.

Road users find their own ways of adapting to the junction layouts.

Construction companies and estate agents sell the suburban dream: happy children playing on the football pitches, families walking through the park. All true, because Cappagh Park is a fantastic amenity. The tricky part is getting there. Many if not most parents choose to drive.

The reality, because of the way the "planning" system works, is that there is only one footpath at the top of Ballymoneen Road South, where it joins the WDR.

And again there's the mysterious omission of a zebra crossing on this arm of the roundabout, as if nobody walks there.

Children and less confident adults often use the zebra crossings to traverse the multi-lane roundabouts. If you take the right-hand (inside) lane to turn right, drivers will overtake you on your left. When cyclists turn left or go straight on, drivers will overtake on the right.

The Athy Roundabout (proudly named by the Council after one of Galway's historic merchant families) is another FOUR-arm multi-lane roundabout retrofitted with pedestrian crossings on THREE arms.

The rationale for this engineering decision is shrouded in mystery.

It's on a route to nearby primary schools. Again, children and less confident adults rely on the zebra crossings to traverse the roundabouts. The unfinished nature of the junctions seems to imply that the Council is not overly concerned about these obstacles to active travel.

Another 4-arm roundabout with three crossings. It's one of two access routes (officially described in the Planning file as "safe") to a primary school (circled).

The five-arm roundabout at the entrance to the Gateway Shopping Park has two crossings. The 5-arm #DeaneRAB has none.

Coda:

1. Roundabout on WDR at the entrance to Gateway Shopping Park.

2. Deane Roundabout at the junction of Western Distributor Road and Bishop O'Donnell Road.

See also #DeaneRAB.