Barriers creating unnecessary conflict between people walking and cycling, say campaigners. Councillors have mixed views on the solutions, including a more focused targeting of electric bikes or mopeds used by delivery riders and others, which are seen as the main issue of inappropriate speed. While one politician expressed delight at the chicanebarriers on Parliament Street and Capel Street, most South East Area Committee councillors who spoke at a committee meeting on Monday expressed confusion or annoyance at the barriers on the two streets the latter of which is in their area.A number of councillors also complained that the councils transport section went ahead with the changes without informing the elected representatives, and that the motion about Parliament St was only met with a holding message from officials.The barriers are placed along the streets. With nine (9) sets in the 420 metres section of Capel Street and five (5) sets on the 130-metre-long Parliament Street.Dublin City Council told this website last week that the measures are a trial, but the council has been slow to answer some questions about the barriers, including details of the legal mechanism for implementing the chicanes, which are a type of traffic-calming measure.In response to questions about guidelines for access controls on active travel routes that specify a distance between barriers, the council said road traffic contractors had adjusted the spacing between barriers. But the council has yet to explain why it is not following the Section 38 process for traffic calming and trials of measures like this.At the committee meeting on Monday, Cllr Danny Byrne (Fine Gael), who said he had been contacted by some local residents complaining about speeding cyclists, said he was delighted to see interventions to slow down cyclists. He had put down a motion seeking action.Cllr Fiona Connelly (Labour) said: Some of the changes that have been made possibly were made to reduce the speed of cyclists, but Ive heard reports that its not working so well and its funnelling everybody through the same small channels.She said she has received emails from people concerned about pushing pedestrians, bicycles, e-scooters, and other vehicles into smaller spaces.Cllr Carolyn Moore (Green Party) said: Whatever is happening on Parliament Street has made a complete dogs dinner of the street. I understand the issues around shared spaces and communicating to people the responsible use of shared spaces. I do not understand the rationale behind removing traffic from the street, investing a lot in the street and putting in seating and then whatever this obstacle course that has appeared on the street now, without any prior notice.She said there was no clarity around how long the trial is to take place, if the changes were being studied, Cllr Moore added: I think it looks frankly disgraceful.Cllr Pat Dunne (independent) said: I spent at least an hour sitting on Parliament Street on the nice seating just observing whats going on, and you have the bicycles coming in and out through the ugly cones and ugly signage saying cyclists please slow down, and if you go up to Capel Street, you see something similar.Im of the view that you have to protect pedestrians of all ages. And to encourage pedestrians to use the facility of a traffic-free street, we need to do something about bicycles going up and down. Occasionally speeding up and down, but theres bicycle traffic. Bicycles of all descriptions, including things which you could almost call a motorbike. He said: Im suggesting that we look at this from the point of view of having this as a pedestrian street, and that cyclists are asked to dismount and walk through the pedestrian area. It would only add about a minute to somebodys journey, but its the only way to make it safe.Cllr Kourtney Kenny (Sinn Fin) said: Theres a really simple solution: In other counties across the world, theres electric bicycle free zones. Why cant we have an electric bicycle-free zone rather than a blanket [measure] over all cyclists? If they are primarily the issue is with e-bikes, then we need something to say e-bikes are not allowed on this street Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour) said that he is an e-bike user who acts responsibly.Its worth reporting that there are often crossed wires: some people call pedal-assisted bicycles e-bikes, while others use the same term for the kind of bikes classed as mopeds, with councillors referring to these bikes used by most delivery riders.Cllr Lacey said that, as chairperson of the committee, he raised the issue of the city councils transport sections lack of response with the local area manager for the South East Area.He said: Parliament Street has become a mess. One of the real problems is the way the [food] couriers are paid. They are paid per delivery, so they are going at incredible speeds through pedestrianised areas, nearly knocking each other down. So thats where we need legislation so that they can work safely and people can walk and cycle safely.Thats where the problem is. I was on Parliament Street two weeks ago, sitting there reading the paper, and the amount of couriers that were just engaging in really dangerous behaviour something has to be done, I think it needs to be tackled at the very core of how they are paid, and I think we owe it to them to do so.The issue of delivery riders being treated as contractors was expected to be addressed after Revenue won what was viewed as a test case in the Supreme Court against a Dominos Pizza franchise. The court ruled in October 2023 that drivers working for the company, Karshan (Midlands) Ltd, trading as Dominos Pizza, were misclassified as contract workers or self-employed. Revenue gave companies a grace period to correct employee classifications, but the deadline was January of this year.RTE which itself was caught up in a bogus self-employment scandal reported this weekon the EU Platform Work Directive, implying the current employment models used by delivery apps. While the Directive pushes the food delivery platforms rather than the riders to disprove the existence of an employment relationship, it is unclear how the food delivery companies will react to this. IMAGES: Main image from I Bike Dublin, with image above from IrishCycle.com.Cllr Connelly also questioned whether there was a behavioural management plan and who it was directed at, as there are differences among the types of users of the streets. Wheeled users of the street include users of bicycles, e-scooters and other bike-like electric devices, which are already effectively banned, but enforcement is lacking.Cllr Byrne added that he was delighted that the barriers were put in place and said that he could see a mobility scooter user across the street from City Hall (where the meeting was being held) using Parliament Street. He claimed this would not have happened before the barriers went in because it was like a racing track, but this website has seen the shared area previously used by mobility device users, wheelchair users, parents with prams, and children walking and cycling.A council official with the transport department said at the meeting that it was a trial, but the project was not his area, and he apologised on behalf of his colleagues in the traffic department of the council for not providing information to the committee.After requests for comments as mentioned in the previous article on these changes, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council told this website on Monday that: This is not a trial under Section 38. These are only temporary measures. The spacing was adjusted on Friday, July 10th.Questions and follow-up questions, including why Section 38 was not used, what legal measures were used, and how much the trial is costing, have so far gone unanswered.I Bike Dublin, a campaign group, said on Monday: The removal of cars from Dublins Parliament Street and Capel Street, while very welcome, has exposed the dearth of safe cycling routes across the River Liffey. Grattan Bridge is only the second bridge (after the Samuel Beckett Bridge) to have fully segregated two-way cycle routes.So its no wonder that people on bicycles are choosing this route as the primary means of crossing the city, and this brings with it its own challenges around the mixing of walking and cycling traffic. Meanwhile, OConnell Bridge, the widest bridge crossing the Liffey, has seven lanes for vehicular traffic, generous footpaths on both sides, a central median with some lovely planters, but no space for people cycling who must share with the Luas, buses, taxis, trucks and private cars, the group said.I Bike Dublin added: We think that the 15 sets of cones and barriers that are creating unnecessary conflict between people walking and cycling on Capel Street and Parliament Street could be put to much better use to create safe, segregated cycling routes on OConnell Bridge.ALSO READ: More coverage of Capel Street and Parliament Street. A video of the barriers on the street last week: