Accessibility is mentioned six times in a press release for the new 12th Lock to Hazelhatch section of the Grand Canal Greenway, but while authorities say the route is a major step forward in enhancing sustainable travel and recreational amenities, greenway users have been left frustrated by a new kissing gate barrier placed on the route just before its offical launch this week.The new section of the greenway runs from 12th Lock at Adamstown Road, beside the Lucan Sarsfields GAA Club, to Hazelhatch Road and then onwards to Sallins via the section of greenway built by Kildare County Council. The new kissing gate is believed to be even more restrictive than the ones installed by South Dublin County Council between 12th Lock and Inchicore in Dublin.The new kissing gate barrier is on the greenway just east of Hazelhatch Road and on the Dublin side of McEvoys pub. A cyclists dismount sign has been erected at the barrier, and a no cycling sign has also been erected at the roadside entrance to the canal path beside the pub.IrishCycle.com has been told and has seen accounts online by members of the public that claim even standard bicycles have to be lifted onto their back wheels to be manoeuvred through the gate, and that the narrow kissing gates block wheelchairs, larger prams, as well as bicycle trailers and non-bicycles and tricycles used by people with disabilities, families and people carrying pets.Mairead Forsythe, a member of the South Dublin branch of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, said: Its totally unacceptable in this day and age to spend public money on a facility which can only be accessed by able-bodied cyclists.Forsythe said the greenway should be accessible to People with disabilities, people in wheelchairs, people in non-standard bicycles, families with trailers and cargo bikes, and parents with buggies. She called on the council to remove the existing gate, even if it needed to be replaced with a less restrictive staggard barrier. The new section of greenway, which includes areas of both Kildare and Co Dublin, was built by South Dublin County Council as the project manager, working in part on behalf of Kildare County Council and with Waterways Ireland.In a joint press release, Minister for Transport Darragh OBrien, the Mayor of South Dublin, Cllr Pamela Kearns, and Lorcan OConnor, CEO of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, are all quoted on the accessibility of the route.Minister OBrien said: The opening of this section of the Grand Canal Greenway marks an exciting milestone for the communities in Adamstown and Hazelhatch and the surrounding areas. The improvement works carried out on this 5km section means that the greenway is now designed and developed to cater for wheelchair users, children in buggies as well as people on all types of bicycles.While John McDonagh, CEO of Waterways Ireland was quoted as stating that the route would make a climate positive impact through traffic reduction by hosting more journeys on our Greenways and that the all-Ireland authorty will continue to collaborate with our partners and stakeholders on the completion of the remaining sections of the Grand Canal Greenway which will link the Liffey all the way to the Shannon.When contacted by IrishCycle.com, a spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said: The Grand Canal Greenway route recently constructed runs from the 12th Lock at Grange Castle to McEvoys public house at Hazelhatch. This phase of the greenway currently terminates at its western boundary with the public houses outdoor seating area.The Part 8 planning permission drawing shows the new greenway path (shown here in green) starting at the rear of the pub, with an existing path/road surface (shown in grey) around the bridge and extending to the new path. Only one gate point is shown on the projects planning drawing, but two have been built: a steel chicanebarrier and a wooden kissing gate. The drawings also shows a potential new walking and cycling bridge across the canal before the pub, but this is an outline only and would require a separate planning process for approval. It would also incur substantial costs.In a statement to this publication, a spokesperson for the council said: SDCC is continuing to work with the landowner on delivering the next phase of the greenway, and the present access arrangement is an interim measure to manage the interface between the public greenway and the private licensed premises.They added: National guidance allows such temporary treatments where routes are delivered in phases and where public safety needs to be managed during transition stages.The council did not directly answer a question on who installed the barrier. The main relevant guidance is contained in the 2022 Access Control of Active Travel Facilities advice note published by the National Transport Authority in association with the Department of Transport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. It outlines how restrictive barriers, such as so-called kissing gates' and other restrictive barriers, have the impact of making access difficult for a standard bicycle, and impossible for larger bicycles, such as cargo bikes and various mobility vehicles. Many of these are also difficult, if not impossible, for someone in a wheelchair, or pushing a buggy, to negotiate.These barriers were generally provided to deter anti-social behaviour, such as using motorcycles and quad bikes in parks (risk to other park users and damage to the park infrastructure), and to secure the public space for the local people. However, these have had the unintended consequence of locking out those people that are reliant on mobility vehicles that are too big to pass through these access control measures, the guidelines outline. The guidelines continue: Access control is also commonly used to reduce the impacts of anti-social behaviour, using mechanised vehicles (typically motorcycles or quad bikes), along routes which is a problem in some locations. Many types of access control measures have been used to limit access by these mechanised vehicles, however these vehicles cannot be effectively excluded by physical means without also inappropriately restricting access by legitimate types of mobility equipment.The advice note adds: For these reasons, there should be a presumption against the use of inaccessible access control measures unless there is a persistent and significant safety concern resulting from its use by these mechanised vehicles. Where these issues arise the Local Authority, in consultation with An Garda Sochna and the Approving Authority, should firstly consider what other actions could be undertaken to reduce this anti-social behaviour.