Cosain Climate 🌍 Profile picture
May 30, 2021 15 tweets 9 min read Read on X
Includes a return service.

Note the emphasis on making the route not just safer but also more manageable.
This was the scene in Cappagh Park around 10h00 today. Two bikes parked. Image
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. Image
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. ImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
Road users find their own ways of adapting to the junction layouts. ImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
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. ImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
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. Image
Coda:

1. Roundabout on WDR at the entrance to Gateway Shopping Park. Image
2. Deane Roundabout at the junction of Western Distributor Road and Bishop O'Donnell Road.

See also #DeaneRAB. ImageImageImageImage

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More from @cosaingalway

Feb 23, 2023
As recent events in Limerick make clear, having a team of #ActiveTravel staff is no guarantee of progress.

Ireland has deep-rooted, systemic problems with local government, urban planning and the organisation of transport.
One systemic problem that cannot be addressed by throwing money at it is our long-standing practice of developer-led "planning".

If a landowner decides to build something, then something might get built. If not, there seems to be no mechanism or momentum for the State to act.
If a property owner decides to act, or not to act, in a certain way, it seems as if the State, short of a CPO, is unwilling or unable to act. The State uses CPOs to plough motorways nationwide through the countryside, but appears powerless to develop even 20 metres of footpath.
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An Irish family travels to a European city on an informal 'cultural exchange', on this occasion in the form of a house swap with a couple living in an apartment.
It's summer. The streets, and the apartment block, are pleasant and quiet. The Irish visitors love their short walks to the shop. This being a European apartment, there's a communal laundry in the basement. There's a reservation system for using the washing and drying facilities.
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One of the Irish visitors, hypothetically, strolls down to the basement with a bag of dirty clothes to check out the facilities.
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Jun 3, 2019
Calgary-based 'Friends of Science' claims to be "a group of earth, atmospheric & solar scientists".

In reality it's an artificial 'astroturf' campaign funded by the oil and gas industry, the purpose of which is to dishonestly attempt to discredit climate science & public policy.
An example of the 'science' and rational thought they claim to espouse. 👇

There is no difference between this kind of mindset and that of any alt-right conspiracy theorist wearing a tinfoil hat in a basement.

#ClimateBrawl
"Climate scientists & environmentalists have long suspected that @FriendsOScience was a front for fossil fuel companies trying to block government action to reduce carbon pollution, but FoS always declined to reveal their source of funding."

#ClimateBrawl
thenarwhal.ca/canadian-clima…
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