DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has approved plans for a trial Liffey Cycle Route along Dublin’s quays. 

Council Chief Executive Owen Keegan had recommended that a temporary route should be implemented on a phased basis and said it should be completed by August at a cost of €800,000. 

The Liffey Cycle Route, a fully segregated track running along both the north and south quays, was first proposed in 2011.

Designs for the 5km route, proposed to run from the Tom Clarke (East Link) bridge in the Docklands to Heuston Station, were unveiled in April 2019. 

However, the Council estimates that the earliest completion date for the permanent scheme is 2024. 

In recent months, cycling advocates and Councillors have called for interim measures to be implemented along Dublin’s quays. 

At a meeting this evening, Councillors approved the plans for the temporary scheme. 

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The trial route should be “sufficiently robust” to remain in place until the permanent Liffey Cycle Route is built, Keegan said in a report last week. 

In addition, the Council said bus priority would not be affected by the interim route, there would be no major alterations to bus stops along the quays and pedestrians footpaths won’t be reduced. 

However,  it is not possible to provide a continuous, segregated cycle lane between Aston Quay and Essex Quay due to the impact on commercial activity in Temple Bar, the Council said. 

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Concerns were also raised by Chair of the Council’s Transporation Committee, Independent Councillors Christy Burke, who said a number of disability groups had contacted him to raise concerns about the trial route. 

The plans will now come before the Transportation Committee which will hear from stakeholders and accessibility groups at a meeting next month.