TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN has put a request in to Dublin City Council asking that footpaths and cycle routes are widened as lockdown measures are eased. 

The university said the proposals are in line with the council’s own objectives to “look at how a more pedestrian, cycle and public transport friendly centre can be set out” in the months following lockdown. 

The local authority published its aims and objectives for public transport in its Enabling the City to Return to Work document published in May, in which it recognised “on a post-Covid basis, travel patterns will change dramatically”.

The measures proposed by Trinity College include widening footpaths, installing bike lanes, prioritising walking and cycling at junctions, and reducing speed limits. 

Its campuses attract up to 17,000 students and 4,000 staff into the city centre and the university argues that if walking and cycling infrastructure was improved within 5km of the its buildings it would free up public transport for those who cannot walk for health reasons, or who live further out of the city. 

A survey carried out by Trinity College in 2019 found that 80% of the college community travel 10km or less to reach the campus. 

Some 58% of students and staff said they travelled by public transport, while 41% said they walk or cycle, according to the survey. 

In another survey back in 2018, some 91% of staff and students said they would support introducing segregated cycle routes to increase cycle safety. 

Provost Patrick Prendergast said: “We are acutely aware that when the city reopens, our community needs to plan how to travel under social distancing requirements. We are asking those who live within 5 km of the campus to walk or cycle if possible.  We hope that if people are enabled to do so, they will.

The university has outlined a number of routes which would benefit those commuting to the city to attend or work at the university on a regular basis. 

These include a route between Trinity College to Trinity Halls in Darty, as well as a route along Nassau Street, and another route between the college and St James’s Hospital.