Magic Wands

There was a nice xmas surprise for cyclists in Tralee as flexible traffic bollards were installed to protect the cycle lanes at the north end of Denny Street.

The cycle lanes which were installed almost 2 years ago as part of the Active Travel Town project have been of little use to cyclists due to illegal parking.

In response to this Kerry County council resorted to blocking the cycle lanes with barriers, which of course also rendered them useless to cyclists.

Part of the issue was the use of the cycle lanes as an adhoc taxi rank due to a dispute regarding the re-designation of taxi locations as part of the traffic realignment in the town centre .

Now to see how long they will last !

The Freedom Machine

There are a worrying number of “ists” in society today – racists, sexists, and even fascists – who’d have thought they’d make such a comeback?! For her debut one-woman show, Elaine Gallagher has decided to focus on a positive “ist” in society – the cyclist

The Freedom Machine is a hilarious audio-visual stand up show, which celebrates 100 years of women’s suffrage by exploring the revolutionary bicycle. Co-Director of “The Comeback” feature film (Filmbase). Writer for “The Mario Rosenstock Show” (RTÉ). This work premiered at Smock Allies: Scene + Heard 2018.

 

As part of National Bike Week Kerry Cycling Campaign presents The Freedom Machine a new show from Elaine Gallagher which explores the parallels between cycling and feminism using a mix of stand up comedy and audio-visual inserts.

The history of cycling mirrors the history of feminism in a fascinating way. As the call for women’s suffrage grew towards the end of the 1800’s, so did women’s use of the bicycle, and both were seen as threats to the established social order. The notion of women traveling around unchaperoned was at best challenging, and for many unacceptable and dangerous. Is it any wonder when bicycles were a source of unprecedented liberty for so many women, or as Susan B. Anthony called it, “a freedom machine”.

Elaine’s show will chart the origins of the bicycle and its role in granting freedoms to women, including its significant role in female suffrage. It will also explore the parallels between cyclists and women, and motorists and men, i.e. motorist/male entitlement, being subject to abuse and potential violence, lacking the safe facilities that we need in this day and age, and so on.

This is a free event (limited spaces) and will take place at O’Donnells, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry on Friday the 29th of June at 8pm.

For those interested in cycling to this event a group will be meeting at 7.15 in Tralee town square for a leisurely spin out along the Tralee-Fenit Greenway.

This event is supported by:

Public consultation days on North Kerry Greenways

Things finally seem to be moving along on the development of the Kerry section of the Great Southern Trail the Tralee to Fenit Greenway as Kerry County Council announce that they are to hold a public consultation day regarding each projects in Fenit and Listowel respectively.

Maps of the route of the proposed greenway will be on display for inspection throughout the day. Kerry County Council officials will be available to discuss any aspect of the projects on a one-to-one basis with landowners and interested parties during the hours specified above. In the event that a person cannot attend, an appointment can be made on an alternative date in their office in Tralee or at their landholding if preferred.


Public consultation day regarding the proposed Tralee to Fenit Greenway 

Venue: Fenit Parish Centre
Date: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Time: 11am – 8pm

Public consultation day regarding the proposed North Kerry Greenway – Listowel to Limerick County Bounds (Sluicequarter).

Venue: Listowel Arms Hotel (Greenville Room)
Date: Thursday 24th May 2018
Time: 11am – 8pm

 

 

 

John Grimshaw (Sustrans) GST talk

The Great Southern Trail will host a presentation from John Grimshaw next Friday (13th April 2018) at 8pm at the Glórach Theatre, Abbeyfeale, Co.Limerick.

John Grimshaw is a pioneer of Greenway developments for almost 50 years, he founded the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity Sustrans heading it up for 30 years before standing down to set up his own consultancy ( johngrimshawassociates.co.uk ).

John was the author of the Great Southern Trail report commissioned by Shannon Development which was published in 1988 and proposed a trail on the former Kerry/Limerick railways, the project which has still to be realised is seen as Ireland’s first planned Greenway, at that time John walked the entire route from Tralee to Ballingrane.

John and a few associates are visiting several Irish Greenways including the Great Southern where he and his colleagues will cycle from Rathkeale to the Kerry Border and they are delighted to hear of the positive developments which will hopefully see the Greenway extended into North Kerry in the not too distant future.

As part of the presentation John will outline his experiences in developing Greenways and the multiple benefits that accrue to communities as a result. For both dedicated Greenway enthusiasts and those who wish to inform themselves this will be a rewarding evening.

Why we cycle ?

To the Dutch, cycling is as normal as breathing. They don’t think about it, they just do it. Perhaps the fact that they don’t think about it is the key to the bicycle’s success there. But because they do not give cycling a second thought, they don’t really know what the deeper needs of cyclists are.

“Why We Cycle” takes a ride with ordinary cyclists and specialists from a variety of disciplines. These conversations uncover some obvious, but even more hidden effects of cycling, on people, on societies, and on the organization of cities.

This film is a free event (limited spaces) and will take place at Kerry County Library, Tralee, Thursday 12th of April at 6.15pm

Watch the Trailer:

Facebook Event

 

This event is made possible with the support of Cyclist.ie and Kerry County Library.

Greenway conversion programme

There was sense of disbelief among followers and advocates of the three decade long Great Southern Trail saga while listening to Tuesday’s edition of the Kerry Today programme which featured former Councilor Din Stack (center above) extolling the benefits of the proposed greenway.

Mr. Stack a former Listowel Town Councilor was the sole member who opposed a proposal for the council to back the greenway project and was also a key member of the North Kerry Abandoned Railway Line Action Group (NKARLAG) who not only objected to the development of the greenway but also claimed ownership of the former railway land, a demand that was dropped in 2013 when CIE stated that they would fight any ownership claim.

As mentioned in the interview the change of heart came after a of a number of former objectors to the project paid a visit to the much lauded Waterford Greenway,

Radio Kerry also reported that Kerry County Council hope to have planning for the Listowel to the county bounds section of the Great Southern Trial in place by September.

Kerry County Council begins consultation along the proposed North Kerry Greenway

Following the transfer of the two North Kerry railways from CIE last year, Kerry County Council has this week begun the consultation process with interested parties along the proposed North Kerry Greenway.

Letters were delivered to residents and landowners adjoining the route which will run from the current Great Southern Trail head at the county bounds to Tralee where it will join with the Tralee to Fenit Greenway.

This is a long awaited development in a project which was originally initiated 30 years ago this year. In 1988 Sustrans was commissioned by Shannon Development to carry out a comprehensive feasibility study on the development of the Great Southern Trail.

The report outlined Ireland’s first planned greenway, over the intervening three decades the entirety of the  Limerick section of the route has been converted. While Kerry has fallen behind there has been action on both ends over the last number of years with the opening of the urban section in Tralee and the ongoing clearance of the 10.5km section between Listowel and the Kerry border. A survey of this section is currently being carried out, and it’s expected the design of the greenway will be completed by the end of August then preparation of the necessary planning documentation can begin.

Barnagh tunnel

Last year Limerick Council took over the running of the Limerick section of the route from the volunteer led GST Ltd. and plans to invest significantly in the amenity allocating €1.2 million in their 2018 budget to the project. They are currently in the process of re-branding the route as The Southern Greenway, along with the installation of new signage there are also plans to rejoin the Barnagh tunnel to the route which was previous cut off due to road realignment as well as resurfacing the trail. Longer term plans include extending the route right into the heart of Limerick City.

In Kerry the route would not only provide a much needed boost to tourism in the area but would also serve to provide a safe off road link connecting the North Kerry towns of Tralee, Ardfert, Abbeydorney, Lixnaw and Listowel, as well as linking isolated rural communities.

The Great Southern Greenway which if fully developed would be almost 100km in length making it Ireland’s longest greenway. The route will also form part of Trans-European  EuroVelo 1 and in time will link up with other greenways such as the Waterford and Mayo greenways in order to provide a dedicated cycle route from Wexford to Belfast along the Atlantic coast, much of the route would be in parallel with the Wild Atlantic Way.

Rise of cycle deaths in 2017

The Road Safety Association have released their report into fatal collision statistics on Irish roads for 2017.

Overall 2017 saw a 15% decrease in road deaths with 158 fatalities compared with 186 in 2016 while the same period saw fatalities of cyclists increase by 50% with 15 deaths up from 10 in 2016, a record for the decade.

Of the cyclist fatalities:

  •  all 15 fatalities involved motorists
  • 13 fatalities occurred during the hours of daylight
  • 2 occurred during darkness
  • the majority of fatalities occurred in zones of 80km/h and above

County Kerry had 8 road fatalities, an slight increase from the 2016 figure (7) with 38% (3) of these deaths being cyclists in stark contract with the national average of approximately 10%.

Of these 3 deaths one was a tourist, and one a sport/recreation cyclist cycling with a group.

For further analysis see Irish Cycle and Maynooth Cycling Campaign

Proposal for all new road developments in Kerry to include cycle lanes.

At the July meeting of Kerry County Council Cllr. J. Sheahan  proposed that

That Kerry County Council write to the Minister for Transport to negotiate with the TII and recommend that any future road developments along major routes within Kerry will have the inclusion of a cycle lane.
Cllr. J. Sheahan stated while he accepted it is all down to finance we as a Council must insist that the way forward is the inclusion of cycle lanes. We are encouraging people to leave their cars at home and avail of the cycle to work schemes but we can’t offer them safe passage the way our roads are currently designed.

Cllr. Sheahan added that he would like to see Kerry leading the way as pioneers of cycle lanes being in corporated on all major routes.

The motion was seconded by Cllr. J.J. Culloty.

View meeting minutes