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City council rejects cycle route claim

Tuesday, 30 June 2009

A NORTHSIDE TD’s claim that the construction of the long promised Sutton to Sandycove (S2S) cycle route maybe in jeopardy because of a funding row between the Government and Dublin City Council has been rejected. Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan (Lab) made the claim after it emerged that a two-kilometre stretch of the cycle route from the wooden bridge at Dollymount to Bull Island would cost in the region of e14 million to construct. According to Deputy Broughan, the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, has expressed concern about the potential cost of the proposal. Minister Dempsey said he was particularly concerned that the cycle route would involve substantial costs that are not appropriate to the current economic circumstances or are primarily related to coastal protection works. Deputy Broughan said he was totally in favour of the cycle route going ahead and has championed the project for many years. “However, the figure of e14 million being proposed is unbelievable and outrageous,” he stated. Deputy Broughan said there were suggestions that the construction work for the cycle route was being used in particular to facilitate new sea defence structures, road widening projects and as preparatory works for the new North Dublin water pipeline. “What was originally planned was a simple cycle route for Dublin’s cyclists but we now seem to be dealing with something entirely different,” he added. A spokesman for Dublin City Council rejected Deputy Broughan’s claim that there was a disagreement on any of the issues regarding the cycle route between the Government and the local authority. “The cost of the proposed section from Bull Wall to the wooden bridge is estimated at between e12 and e14 million,” he said. “The Department of Transport and the Department of the Environment have been briefed on this, and understand that the high costs arise from the fact that this latter 1.9 kilometre section is constructed as a bridge over an environmentally highly sensitive site. “While Dublin City Council will ensure that any proposed structure along the coast will also have flood protection designed into it, the additional cost of providing the flood protection is not the major factor in the cost of the project. “The cost is due to the fact that it is almost entirely on a bridge and there is no viable alternative at this location.” The spokesman said Deputy Broughan's reference to the North City watermain was confusing another project proposed by the city council directly to the south of the wooden bridge. “While this project also incorporates flood protection, it has nothing to do with S2S,” he added.  “There is no road widening projects associated in any way with the S2S.” Derek Peppard, from Raheny, is a member of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, and he recently viewed a presentation of the structure that the council intends to build from the wooden bridge to Bull Island. “We were given a figure in the region of e12 million to construct what has become known as the missing link,” Mr Peppard told Northside People. “We were very impressed with what we saw. While we acknowledge the figure is a lot of money, we believe this will be a top quality job. “The project will involve constructing a boardwalk/bridge type structure which will be built on stilts and will have room for both cyclists and walkers. “It will also have to travel through an area of special conservation.”