Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan, who was quoted this week as saying that he wants to “aggressively” restrict road space for cars in the capital to provide more protected cycle lanes said that he accepts that some people consider the use of the word as inappropriate.
“It was intended to mean with a sense of determination and enthusiasm,” Mr Keegan said.
“I suppose the background to this is that we have a target in our development plan to grow the cycling mode share in the peak period from six per cent of all trips in the morning peak in 2019 to about 13 percent by 2028. That is a very serious challenge.”
Mr Keegan said that Dublin is a very flat city and has a very moderate climate which lends itself to being a cycling city.
“But if we are to achieve that kind of growth and if we are to make cycling a mode of choice for more people and for more journeys, then we do have to change our whole approach to travel.
“It is very clear to me that we have to up the delivery of cycling infrastructure.
“The options for providing that off road are limited and what we saw during Covid-19 is when we put it on road and put protection that has been very successful.
“There has been no demand to take back that road space and I think that is the approach we need to follow now if we are to achieve our objective of doubling cycling numbers.”
Responding to Michael McDowell’s views on the matter in The Irish Times, he lightheartedly said that he (McDowell) took “an adversarial approach to almost everything I do”.
“He has a view on things. It is a legitimate view. There is a very strong pro car lobby, and it is only really been in the last few years that there has been a determined effort to push the sustainable modes. I think this is a very useful debate.”
