Barriers have narrowed available space for people walking, cycling, scooting and also moped users illegally using the street in more conflict. Dublin City Council has said that the chicane barriers on Capel Street and Parliament Street which seem to be in direct violation of two sets of national guidelines are only temporary. There seems to be no exception in the national guidelines for trialling measures outside of safety and accessibility parameters. As reported on Wednesday, the barriers were placed along the streets. In the case of Capel Street, there are nine (9) sets of barriers across the 420 metres section of the street, which is car-free. On Parliament Street, there are five (5) sets of barriers along the 130-metre stretch.Trials and guidelinesThe council did not immediately respond to a question about which legal measures the current trial process is taking place under. The legal method councils use for trials and for traffic calming measures, such as chicanes on streets, is Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act. The guidelines are referred to in primary legislation but were only issued by the Department of Transport after the Court of Appeal criticised successive governments for failing to put them in place this happened in the case of the proposed Strand Road cycle route trial, in which Dublin City Council was also criticised for poor procedures. On the substantive issues, Dublin City Council successfully overturned a High Court judgment against them on the Strand Road case, with key points argued by the council including that it was to be a trial and that the measures being put in place were temporary in nature and could be reversed.The Section 38 guidelines outline that notice must be given before a trial, with details published on the councils website and councillors informed, and that a public consultation process must start after a trial is put in place.The council implemented the traffic-calming trial on Capel Street and Parliament Street without any prior notice, and councillors contacted by this website indicated that they were not informed that the trial was to be implemented. IMAGE An example of barriers being hit or otherwise moved on Capel Street, which made it even narrower. Traffic control staff moved it shortly after the photo was taken, but it was still below the width allowed in the guidelines. Access Control of Active Travel FacilitiesThe spacing between the barriers is also narrower than allowed under the Access Control of Active Travel Facilities, national guidelines which outline that staggered gates may be considered, however, these should be sufficiently far apart (5.0m minimum) to allow all cyclists to negotiate without having to dismount.The guidelines, which cover all shared active travel routes and segregated cycle paths, state: Although the provision of access control points may be necessary, it must be provided in a manner which ensures universal access and the free-flow of cycling.IrishCycle.com observed yesterday that the barrier spacing was far below 5 metres, in some cases under 2 metres, while the free flow of cycling was not provided for, with extensive and regular queuing affecting not just bicycles, scooters, and bicycle-shaped mopeds, but also pedestrians trying to use the shared surface. In many cases, the barriers were pushing people cycling to take wide turning circles, reducing the space available to people walking along the shared area on the former carragway on the street. The issue of space at some points was made worse by the presence of traffic control vans close to the barriers, and, in the case of Parliament Street, a Garda car related to the Dublin Castle policing operation was parked in front of the van.Some people cycling and scooting were also being destabilised as they navigated the barriers or encountered other users coming in the opposite direction. IMAGE: An example of the queuing on Parliament Street yesterday. In some cases, the barriers are also too close to junctions in the guidelines, the defined distance of 10 metres between the barriers and a junction is a safety measure to avoid issues at junctions. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: The Capel Street Parliament Street route has rapidly become a very key cycle route in the city since the two-way link was put on Capel Street Bridge linking the two sections, and cycling numbers have increased substantially as a result.However, along with this increase in cycling numbers has been some problems caused by the behaviour of a small cohort of people using quite large and powerful e-bikes, and e-ecooters, and Dublin City Council has become increasingly concerned that the behaviour of a minority of users will lead to unsafe interactions with pedestrians and other users of the street, the council said.The spokesperson said: Therefore, a number of measures have been considered, including targeted messaging about the appropriate speeds to use on the streets, increased signage to remind users that pedestrians have priority on the street, and cyclists should slow and give way to pedestrians as required, and these will be rolled out over the next number of weeks.Alongside these measures we are also looking at what may be put on the street to assist in keeping speeds at a reasonable rate commensurate with the usage of the street by all and to inform this we have been trialling putting in some temporary measures to slow speeds and see configurations can make a difference, the chicanes that are being temporarily trialled provide little impediment to a cyclist travelling at a normal speed, but do require the faster users to slow down, the coumcil said.The contention that people cycling at normal speed were not affected other than slowing down was not the case at rush hour yesterday, when IrishCycle.com observed queues at various points where people on foot, on bikes, and on scooters had to stop and wait. But a spokesperson outlined how: These are only temporary measures to guide our process for considering if more permanent changes could or should be made and what, if any, these should be.The council added: This route provides a really important city centre link for both pedestrians and cyclists alike, and Dublin City Council is very keen to ensure that this can continue like this into the future with all users respecting that it is a pedestrian priority area as the majority of users do at present.IrishCycle.com put it to the council that the number of barriers also undermines its previously made claim that emergency access will be maintained at all times on the street. But the council denied this, pointing to traffic management staff on hand to remove the cones should the need arise.IMAGE: Queuing on Capel Street as a person walking goes up and down a kerb to get around. Replying to some users taking to footpaths to avoid barriers as a scooter rider was shown to do so on the video published with IrishCycle.coms article on Wednesday the council said that they have not seen any instance of this behaviour.Cllr Karl Stanley, a Social Democrat councillor who is not based in the area but uses the street, said: There is a conflict of uses on Capel Street between commuters and delivery riders, who want a fast, direct cycling route, casual cyclists who want a slow, relaxed area to ride through and pedestrians who want to be able to safely enjoy the amenities on the street.I dont think its possible for the first two groups to share space with the second two groups. In my view, the council should either find alternative routes for the faster traffic or segregate the carriageway so theres a fast area and a slow area, he said.He said that the lessons from Capel Street, including the challenges of shared space in a city where some people earn a living by moving quickly on two wheels, are something the council need to figure out before rolling out the Grow College Green project.Cllr Stanley added: It would be a failure to create another area where conflict is baked into the design. The council should seriously consider the needs of professional delivery riders and stop lumping all cyclists into the same category, regardless of how they actually move about in practise.

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