Newly built cycle lanes in this Kildare town 'are unsafe'

Cycle lanes built along the main thoroughfare in Newbridge are unsafe.

Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer made the claim at a Kildare County Council meeting.

“They’re unsafe for motorists, people with accessibility issues and cyclists because car doors open on to a cycle lane,” said Cllr O’Dwyer.

Cllr O’Dwyer said while guidelines are in place covering this infrastructure, there must be flexibility in the system so that some of these can be changed or overlooked.

Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer

Cllr Ivan Keatley described the infrastructure as a trip hazard.

“The kerbs are supposed to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe and they are doing the exact opposite,” said, adding that the kerbs are too high.

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Cllr Tim Durkan said an elderly man sustained injuries following a fall from a bicycle and the man won the Rás Tailteann competitive cycling event on eight occasions. He said a similar incident had taken place in Leixlip.

Cllr Durkan called for a full review of the active travel design specifications for adjoining footpath and cycle lanes “given recent accidents across the county including Mill Street, Maynooth; Louisa Bridge, Leixlip; Kilcullen Road, Naas and Newbridge.”

KCC official Mark McLoughlin said KCC has “received no details of the alleged incidents on Mill Street, at Louisa Bridge and in Newbridge town centre.” And in the absence of an understanding of what has occurred, this must be considered isolated incidents and it would be misleading to consider them to be directly correlated,” he said

He said the Kilcullen Road scheme “has unique issues associated with the design of the and enhancements are being developed by the designers, in association with the KCC  and the National Transport Authority.”

He said the lanes are “a change in how our streets are structured.” He said €9m has been granted for the schemes this year in addition to the €11m approved in 2025.