It’s up to Dublin-based TDs who claim that they are supportive of active travel and road safety to secure funding for the next 5 years, a Green Party councillor has said.
The comments come as a Sunday Independent poll using a representative national sample found that most voters want the next government to keep the 2:1 spending split on public transport vs roads.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s Active Travel team has an “ambitious programme” it is working on for early 2025, and that’s “great to see”, said Cllr Oisín O’Connor, who’s based in an area of Dublin where TDs and councillors from all parties claim to be supportive of active travel.
He said: “Despite a lot of challenges in developing quality walking and cycling infrastructure in Ireland at the moment, we’re still pressing on with improvements that will give people more transport choices and a better quality of life.”
Cllr O’Connor said that the council has “a lot of shovel-ready projects” but that they have “stalled as budgets have gotten squeezed by inflation.” Now, an increase in funding is needed to stay still in terms of funding.
The National Transport Authority allocated €22m to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in 2024, which is in line with the amounts in previous years.
“Given we still had a pro-active travel Minister for Transport when Budget 2025 was negotiated, I’d say we’ll get a similar allocation this year. But to deliver these locally-supported active travel improvements in DLR, we need our newly elected TDs to commit to increased levels of active travel funding for the next 5 years,” he said.
Cllr O’Connor said that the projects he is looking forward to in 2025 are the Sandyford Business District phase 1 and Leopardstown Road improvements. He said: “These will include new pedestrian crossings, segregated cycle tracks on roads that currently have no cycling infrastructure, a contra-flow cycle track on Burton Hall Road and improved junction safety.”
But he adds: “Phase 2 of the Sandyford Business District active travel scheme a case in point. It’ll need 2026 and 2027 funding to proceed, so any TD claiming to be pro-active travel, pro-road safety or pro-business, needs to secure funding commitments in the new programme for government to make these kinds of projects possible.”
DRAFT DLRCC ACTIVE TRAVEL PROGRAMME FOR Q1 2025
This is a list of projects already underway and those to be tendered for in Q1 2025, depending on funding allocation.
| DLRCC/12/0014 | Cherrywood Shankill Greenway (Old Bray Road Traffic Calming) rapid build | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/20/0001 | Stillorgan Park Road | Under construction |
| DLRCC/20/0005 | Sandyford Business District Cycle Routes | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/21/0007 | Glenageary Road Upper Cycle Route | Under construction |
| DLRCC/21/0009 | DLR Central Active Travel Scheme | Under construction |
| DLRCC/21/0036 | Pearse Drive Sallynoggin – Love our Laneways Scheme | Under construction |
| DLRCC/22/0004 | Leopardstown Road junction improvements | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0012 | Deerpark Entrance Improvements | Under construction |
| DLRCC/23/0017 | Seafield Safe and Quiet Streets | Under construction |
| DLRCC/23/0018 | SRTS Round 1 – Carysfort National School | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0019 | SRTS Round 1 – Holy Cross School | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0020 | SRTS Round 1 – Holy Family School | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0021 | SRTS Round 1 – The Harold School | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0031 | Living Streets: Dun Laoghaire (Active Travel Pathfinder) | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/23/0038 | Living Streets: Blackrock | Tender Q1 2025 |
| DLRCC/24/XXXX | N11 UCD Flyover – Interim Active Travel Measures | Under construction |
