Kilkenny City, Ireland – April 19, 2024 – Since the implementation of COVID-19 measures in Kilkenny City, cyclists have been unable to cycle on High Street from Parliament Street towards The Parade. A motion, passed by Councillors in November 2023, approved the introduction of a contraflow cycle lane to reinstate this link for cyclists. The notice of motion ” to retain existing temporary one -way system pending the outcome of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and amend the general layout of the existing One-Way System to facilitate contra-flow cycling including the removal of temporary bollards along High Street…” was approved by the majority of members at the November meeting.
High Street is scheduled for resurfacing in the coming weeks, presenting the opportunity to implement the contraflow cycle lane efficiently, minimising disruption for residents, workers, business owners, shoppers, and visitors.
The Kilkenny City and County Development Plan, Kilkenny has set the ambitious goal of a 10% modal share for cyclists for all journeys within the city. Kilkenny is currently out performing other similar sized towns with a modal share of 3.6% for workers. However, the number of children and young people cycling continues to decline. Consistently, when asked, young people do not feel our roads are safe enough to cycle on. This is a huge loss to our community where two generations ago, almost 40% of young people cycled to school and to other activities. This loss of independence results in a large amount of care journeys, as children are taxied around from home to school to activities. This results in circuitous journeys, heavy congestion at school times and increases for all in commuting times as the reliance on cars increases. Offering people choices in their transport modes, results in benefits to the wider community as a whole. This has been demonstrated by the success of the Kilkenny City Bus Service which now transports on average 1000 people per day.
“We recognise the importance of providing safe spaces for cyclists, unfortunately when looking at fatalities on our roads, cyclists are disproportionately represented. Many more are put-off from considering cycling due to the perceived lack of safety,” stated Ian Gardner, Senior Engineer in Kilkenny City. “The introduction of a contraflow cycle lane on High Street will allow those who have put away the bike to choose cycling once again and hopefully we will be able to attract some more cyclists and work towards our target.”
