The City Council has confirmed on affidavit that it is its intention to proceed with a cycle trial along Strand Road in Sandymount, said the Court of Appeal judges in their judgment on the Strand Road cycle route trial, but a year on from them giving the project the legal green light, sources claim Dublin City Councils chief executive has now cold feet, but a spokesperson for the council said that officials are still examining their options. Using Section 38 of the Road Traffic Acts, a legal measure for road layout changes, Dublin City Council planned to replace a car lane on the coastal road in Sandymount for a 6-month trial. The project was announced in August 2020, but just before it was implemented at the start of 2021, it was blocked from going ahead by a temporary order. The then High Court judge ruled against the project in the summer of the same year a judgment that was ultimately ruled as flawed by the Court of Appeal last year. The issue of whether the council was still seeking to implement the trial was listed as one of the key reasons by the judges as to why they did not rule the case was moot, and why, in their words, the legal issues raised in the appeal are not abstract or hypothetical but real and concrete. If the original High Court judgement, which was overturned, were allowed to stand, it could also have affected any future trial or other projects under Section 38 of the Road Traffic Acts. If a trial does not go ahead, a number of sources were independently concerned that, after years of the council fighting the case in the courts, the council would be creating a moral hazard, as people objecting to other projects would see legal challenges as a relatively risk-free way to delay and ultimately possibly block projects. Sources, who did not want to be named, confirmed to IrishCycle.com last week that the city council was gearing up to run the Strand Road cycle route trial in the first half of this year. But they claimed that Richard Shakespeare, chief executive at Dublin City Council, put the brakes on the trial, with one source describing the idea of a trial as good as dead in the water. Asked about Shakespeare not giving the project the green light, a spokesperson for the council did not directly reply to the contention that he is currently blocking or stalling the trial from going ahead.Shakespeare has been under pressure about his decision to start a process that is expected to see the council move from its central HQ at Wood Quay to a partly built project called Camden Yard, south-west of St Stephens Green. While this is not directly linked to Strand Road, its understood that the backlash to the move a lot of which has focused on the lack of transparency and consultation has made Shakespeare wary of proceeding with the Strand Road trial, especially because national guidelines outline that public consultation only occurs after trials have started. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: Dublin City Council is fully committed to the delivery of active travel measures across the city. That commitment is reflected in the significant expansion of the walk-wheel-cycle network in recent years and in the continued prioritisation of active travel in the Councils transport, climate and development strategies.Dublin City Council had no option but to defend the Judicial Review taken against the Strand Road scheme 2021. Once the High Court had made its ruling, it was the Councils view that, if left unchallenged, it would have serious consequences for active travel projects across the country. The Appeal Court judgement, overturning the original High Court ruling, was an important one for all active travel schemes, the spokesperson said. The city council said: The original Strand Road project was a trial scheme, developed as part of the Covid response. The city has thankfully moved on from that time. Dublin City Council is currently examining all the options for bringing forward a scheme in this location. To support our decision-making additional traffic count data is being collected, alongside a comprehensive review of all relevant documentation, consideration of other projects in the area and an assessment of changes since 2020.The spokesperson added: While not all active travel projects progress at the same pace, substantial design and consultation work continues across a wide portfolio of schemes. The Councils commitment to delivering the network should be judged by its long-term approach to integrating walking, wheeling and cycling into Dublins transport network in a way that is effective, sustainable and durable.When asked for a timeline for the review, especially given that such a review was supposed to have started after the judgment was issued a year ago, the council said: While the decision of the Appeal Court may have been a year ago, we have had to revisit all the documentation for the scheme.The original scheme was proposed as a trial and was put forward as part of a Covid response, and in line with the various Covid directives and DMURS Covid note, none of which is currently applicable.The second reply from the council added: Work is progressing to finalise the required documentation and this will inform the appropriate planning framework for the scheme. We are not in a position make a definitive statement on timing at the moment.