COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM / TEMPLEOGUE / FIRHOUSE / BOHERNABREENA AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, April 08, 2025

QUESTION NO.4

QUESTION: Councillor S. Barnes

To ask the Chief Executive if the following issues have been considered, regarding the construction work on Killininny. Many residents have raised concerns with me regarding construction of the cycle lane which will leave barely enough room for two vehicles to meet. Driving from Old Bawn towards the M50 now requires motorists to drive on dangerous drainage shores every few yards. With the cycle lane the road is now so narrow that the passing traffic must stop and wait until traffic turning right into Oldcourt Avenue gets a break in oncoming traffic. This could take 5 or more minutes at busy times and will cause a massively disruptive build-up of traffic right the way back to Old Bawn Road and beyond. Another issue is that Emergency vehicles might not being able to get past traffic in an emergency due to the narrowness of the road.

REPLY:

The 3 metre wide lanes are a standard width for bus routes, as specified in the Design Manual for Urban Roads & Streets published by Dept of Transport 2014 & 2019, so there is enough room for vehicles to pass each other (for information a large private vehicle such as a Hyundai Tucson is 1.85 metres wide).   

The drainage gulley's are constructed to a standard construction detail TII CC-SCD-00512 and are not dangerous to drive on. All of these will be reviewed during the construction project and upgraded if necessary.

Following a number of representations, the Oldcourt junction is currently being reviewed. 

The roads are constructed in line with current standards and emergency services had input when these standards were being drafted. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer from the Dublin Fire Brigade visit the site on the nearby Firhouse Road West during when that road was completed and reported that they had no difficulty with the design of that road. There are numerous examples of roads in the county and across the country which are less than 9 metres wide and emergency vehicles routinely navigate them.