FAO Sligo County Council

CLEVERAGH DRIVE ACTIVE TRAVEL INTERVENTIONS

To whom it may concern:

I am making this submission regarding the proposed Active Travel Intervention scheme on behalf of my parents who have been residents of Cleveragh Drive (CD) for over 40 years. In the time they have lived there, there has been huge increase in road traffic, particularly heavy commercial vehicles. At the same time, there has been a more welcome increase in people using the road for daily exercise, including dog-walkers, runners, and parents with young children.

Our main concern is that the huge scale of the proposed project is totally out of proportion for the location, especially for such a short stretch of foot and cycle paths. At a recent Q&A meeting with the Active Travel Team, it became evident that various road traffic and travel schemes around Sligo, such as this Cleveragh proposal and the Eastern Garavogue Bridge (EGB), are being planned in isolation from each other without any overarching vision or responsibility. Along the short 800m stretch of road in the proposed Cleveragh scheme, there are different bodies with responsibility and budgets for Active Travel, on-road changes such as crossings, footpaths, speed limits, etc. with nobody taking overall responsibility for ensuring an optimum outcome.

Although the stated intent is to link cycle lanes to encourage active travel, there are no lanes on Tonaphubble Road (TR) to link to, nor do there seem to be any immediate plans to add any apart from a short 50m stretch on TR. With so much housing on the Tonaphubble and Pearse Road side of CD, adding cycle lanes along TR and Cleveragh Road should be the main priority since they form the shortest routes from these residential areas into town and to schools.

Rather than proceed with a costly, environmentally damaging, and potentially dangerous project, we recommend that the proposed scheme be rejected in favour of measures that will effectively reduce traffic speed along CD, and thereby increase safety and amenity for cyclists, residents, and others.

As residents, our main concerns regarding the proposed scheme relate to: (1) safety, and (2) the environmental impact.

1. Safety

Cycle lane

While some of the proposed safety measures are to be welcomed, the scheme is likely to make it more dangerous for CD residents. There is no footpath along most of the residential side of the road and no proposal to include one in the new scheme. The proposed scheme would add a two-way cycle path to an already busy and dangerous stretch of road, leading to increased risk to residents needing to cross the road to access a footpath. E-bikes and scooters can travel at high speeds and, being quieter than cars and heavier than bicycles, can present a considerable danger to pedestrians. A raised-kerb cycle path would make it more difficult to access the footpath for people with limited mobility or pushing buggies.

At the Q&A meeting, it was suggested that the Active Travel planners would look at the scheme in terms of the greater benefit of more active travel (i.e., increased numbers of cyclists) versus the small number of houses along the road. While there are only a few houses along CD, they are almost all without a footpath on their side of the road, meaning the residents are already at risk when crossing to the existing footpath. Increasing the risk of death or injury for anyone should not form any part of a scheme intended to improve safety and accessibility. Waiting for something to happen before an obvious safety issue can be addressed is not an acceptable approach.

Speed

There are no proposed physical measures to reduce speed between the racecourse entrance and the TR junction and, based on current usage, traffic is likely to accelerate along this stretch. The apparent theory is that narrowing of the road will lead to a psychological effect on drivers to reduce their speed. However, the existing road is already quite narrow and this appears to have no impact on speed mitigation. Traffic along CD regularly exceeds the 50 km/h speed limit, particularly around the corner between the TR junction and the Sports Complex (travelling in both directions). Given the noted deterioration in driving standards in recent years, there is a real concern that the road-narrowing theory is unlikely to have the intended effect.

Suggestions:

Introducing – and enforcing - a lower speed limit on CD would have a greater impact on safety and encouraging active travel than the huge intervention proposed.
Adding a footpath along the residential side of the road and another raised crossing between the racecourse and the TR junction should be an integral part of any proposed scheme.

2. Environmental Impact

Cleveragh Drive is currently a lovely road lined with mature trees which gives a sense of being in the countryside although very close to town. For many people, this is the main reason to walk and run along the road. The new footpath would necessitate removal of many mature trees and greatly reduce the public amenity of the route – it may even lead to a reduction in active leisure use as it would become just another an urban footpath along a busy road.

The existing tree canopy and undergrowth form a critical wildlife corridor for foxes, badgers, red squirrels, birds, and hosts of other creatures. Replacement of mature trees with managed landscaping will not make up for such loss of wildlife and biodiversity. The negative environmental impact would far outweigh any proposed benefit.

With the predicted increase in road traffic directed towards CD from the EGB, the appeal of the route to cyclists is also likely to be reduced. A small kerb between the road and cycle lane will not feel like much protection from heavy commercial vehicles and speeding cars on such a narrow route.

The fear is that a unique natural resource for Sligo will be irreversibly destroyed at huge environmental (and financial) cost without any identifiable environmental or social benefit.

Suggestion:

Before any scheme is approved:

a full environmental impact assessment should be carried out, in conjunction with County Sligo Biodiversity Working Group.
The traffic impact of the EGB and its likely effect on active travel along CD and related routes should be determined.

Conclusion

The proposed scheme should be rejected on safety and environmental grounds, and a full impact assessment of the increased traffic effect from the EGB should be carried out before any future scheme is designed.

Regards

Thérèse Barry (on behalf of Gerald and Maureen Barry, [Redacted - Personal Information])

Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act 1994 - Active Travel Scheme - Cleveragh Drive, Sligo Town - Municipal District of Sligo-Strandhill - Submissions

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