Trinity seeks wider footpaths and cycle tracks
Posted on: 18 June 2020
Trinity College Dublin has asked Dublin City Council to widen footpaths and install bicycle tracks on more than 8 km of key routes between its campuses and residences to enable its students and staff to walk and cycle safely during the COVID-19 reopening of the city.
With 17,000 students and 4,000 staff, the university is the largest trip attractor in the city centre.
Trinity is urging students and staff who commute within 5 kilometres of campus to walk or cycle if they can, in order to free up public transport for those who need it for health reasons, or because they commute longer distances.
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.”
To enable students and staff to walk or cycle, Trinity has asked Dublin City Council to introduce measures on four routes in the city that have been identified since 2018 as a priority for the University:
Route 1: Trinity College to Trinity Hall, Dartry
Route 2: Trinity College to Grand Canal Innovation District
Route 3: Nassau Street
Route 4: Trinity’s College to St. James’s Hospital
The measures include:
- Widening footpaths
- Installing bike lanes or increasing the width of those that are too narrow
- Prioritising walking and cycling at junctions
- Reducing speed limits on roads.
These measures align with changes planned in the “Enabling the City to Return to Work” programme published in May 2020 by Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority.
Prof. Brian Caulfield, Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, said:
“The plans outlined by the City Council and the National Transport Authority will result in a dramatic change in the environment pedestrians and cyclists will encounter when moving throughout the city. For people on bikes in particular, the combination of more protected infrastructure and an increase in cycling numbers will foster safety in numbers and encourage more people to try cycling.”
Trinity has been engaged in promoting sustainable and healthy travel prior to COVID-19. The university ran a city-wide consultation on changes needed to the four routes to make them more liveable in November 2019.
Over 60 participants from across the city with an interest in walking, cycling, greening the city, air quality, business and public transport attended. That event was part of a series of events run by the university with BYCS of Amsterdam and with the support of Dublin City Council.
The findings from that consultation can be found on the Healthy Trinity Liveable Dublin webpage (https://www.tcd.ie/healthytrinity/liveabledublin/). Trinity will continue to work with members of the public, civic society, Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority on the actions that emerged.
Trinity is a global leader in sustainable transport use.
Its latest travel survey (2019) indicated that the vast majority of students and staff commute to campus by public transport (58%) or by walking/cycling (41%), with only 1% using private cars.
It also found that 80% of Trinity’s community travels 10km or less to campus. Of those who stated they currently do not travel by their preferred mode, the largest group indicated that they would change to safe, segregated cycling if it were available.
In 2018, 91% of Trinity’s community said they supported the idea of installing segregated cycling or quiet ways to increase cycling safety.
The University plans to survey the Trinity community to find out how travel patterns have changed and how staff and students would like to travel as our city reopens.
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