I want to begin by saying that I endorse the submission from Pauline Foster from the Recorders Residents Association. Pauline represents the views of a considerable number of the residents on Whitehall Road. The advocacy of Ms Foster and residents in the local area regarding the proposed loss of the 15A connectivity under Bus Connects has been invaluable in securing that connectivity is maintained between the large number of elderly residents in the area dependent upon the bus to access the hospital and the Terenure based medical services. Her submissions are usually well considered and are based on enormous experience.
I was one of the first public representatives to welcome a cycling scheme for Whitehall Road as I consider that it is a very dangerous road for cyclists. However, the Council I believe, needs to trial the scheme there to ensure that all of the pinch points and considerations of the locals are taken into account before any permanent infrastructure is put in place. I travel the road every morning during rush hour and come across the same family cycling in every day. Traffic management before the junction onto Kimmage Road West must be carefully managed. Traffic coming off Kimmage Road West onto Whitehall Road turn that corner very sharply and at speed, the residents in the first few houses are currently fearful when entering and exiting their houses. They do not all have the luxury of being able to turn in their driveways and so they must reverse into the driveway to be compliant with the law. This would be difficult with a cycle lane so some consideration as to how this could be done, given their proximity to the junction. Also I have noticed that there are a number of collections of persons with disabilities on that road every morning. Two certainly occur on the left side of the road as you go towards Kimmage Road West with Templeville behind you. The minibuses doing the collections will need to be able to park safely and their passengers enter and exit the minibus safely. This requires consideration. The shops and pub at the top of the road employ a large number of people, and there are a number of residents over those facilities. The removal of parking will affect business and cause a spill over into the surrounding roads. The employees and residents there will still need to park so perhaps that configuration will have to be considered to maximise cycling and pedestrian safety as well as maximising the parking beyond 8 spaces. Traffic calming is going to have to be considered on Rockfield as this is going to become a rat run for cars wishing to avoid the bottleneck that the junction onto Kimmage Road West will become with the narrowing of that junction.
Observations
I want to begin by saying that I endorse the submission from Pauline Foster from the Recorders Residents Association. Pauline represents the views of a considerable number of the residents on Whitehall Road. The advocacy of Ms Foster and residents in the local area regarding the proposed loss of the 15A connectivity under Bus Connects has been invaluable in securing that connectivity is maintained between the large number of elderly residents in the area dependent upon the bus to access the hospital and the Terenure based medical services. Her submissions are usually well considered and are based on enormous experience.
I was one of the first public representatives to welcome a cycling scheme for Whitehall Road as I consider that it is a very dangerous road for cyclists. However, the Council I believe, needs to trial the scheme there to ensure that all of the pinch points and considerations of the locals are taken into account before any permanent infrastructure is put in place. I travel the road every morning during rush hour and come across the same family cycling in every day. Traffic management before the junction onto Kimmage Road West must be carefully managed. Traffic coming off Kimmage Road West onto Whitehall Road turn that corner very sharply and at speed, the residents in the first few houses are currently fearful when entering and exiting their houses. They do not all have the luxury of being able to turn in their driveways and so they must reverse into the driveway to be compliant with the law. This would be difficult with a cycle lane so some consideration as to how this could be done, given their proximity to the junction. Also I have noticed that there are a number of collections of persons with disabilities on that road every morning. Two certainly occur on the left side of the road as you go towards Kimmage Road West with Templeville behind you. The minibuses doing the collections will need to be able to park safely and their passengers enter and exit the minibus safely. This requires consideration. The shops and pub at the top of the road employ a large number of people, and there are a number of residents over those facilities. The removal of parking will affect business and cause a spill over into the surrounding roads. The employees and residents there will still need to park so perhaps that configuration will have to be considered to maximise cycling and pedestrian safety as well as maximising the parking beyond 8 spaces. Traffic calming is going to have to be considered on Rockfield as this is going to become a rat run for cars wishing to avoid the bottleneck that the junction onto Kimmage Road West will become with the narrowing of that junction.