Clarity is being sought from Dublin City Council on a plan to roll out 350 bike bunkers throughout the city.
Bike bunkers are small covered and secure hangars for people to store their bikes if they haven't space in their homes.
They are viewed as part of the overall infrastructure needed to encourage people to cycle, thus helping drive down noxious emissions responsible for climate change.
There are twelve bike bunkers in Dublin, stemming from a beta and pilot project run by the council. Following these projects Dublin City had committed to putting the bunkers in place in 2021.
Fine Gael Councillor for the North Inner City Ray McAdam criticised Dublin City Council for a "lack of clarity", because two years ago the council said in a report it planned to put its plan to have 350 more bike bunkers out for tender.
"The mind boggles. How do you decide to do a review of a project that you two years ago announced that you were going out to tender on? It seems to me that the City Council either want to, at best pause and review, or the more likely option, in my view, is that the City Council are trying to cull the project altogether.
"We need answers. We need clarity and it's not good enough that I have constituents across the city – some of them waiting two and three years for an answer back from the City Council as to whether they will be able to avail of a bike bunker scheme," said Cllr McAdam.
Locals living on Penrose Street in the South Lotts at Ringsend in Dublin told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 that the council needs to provide a bike bunker for their area because bikes have been vandalised and stolen.
Local resident Aoife Mollin said it is important that secure bike parking can be provided for residents.
"I've had four different bikes stolen in Dublin," she said.
Aoife’s husband, Seamus Hoey, has also had bikes stolen and damaged.
"I'm on my 5th bike now. The others were stolen. I tried to move my bicycle further away to the on-street parking, and there my saddle was stolen two weeks ago too. I haven't had great experiences," said Seamus.
Recently the council sent a letter to residents asking them to keep footpaths clear. Residents understand this related to parking bikes on the street.
"These are small streets with red bricked houses. There are cars on both sides, with narrow enough footpaths. We don't have a back garden. Our bikes are right on the street because they have to be, we've nowhere else to put them. There’s not much bike parking around here at all," said Aoife Mollin.
"We got a letter from Dublin City Council saying that nothing could be out on the footpaths," said Ms Mollin.
She added that because of the letter she wants alternative bike parking, so her bike is safe.
The council’s letter stated: "A person shall not place or deposit any material or thing on a public road without permission from the lawful authority or the consent of the road authority.
In this regard can all items please be removed from the public footpath/roadway.
Failure to remove these items may result in the offending items being removed."
Dublin City Council said in a statement that it "did recently circulate a flyer but it was not in relation to the removal of bikes".
RTÉ News requested the council clarify "what materials or things are covered by the letter" and whether it would circulate another letter to residents confirming its letter does not refer to bikes.
Dublin City did not respond or clarify this.
Mr Hoey asked the council to install a bike bunker for his area four years ago, but nothing has happened since.
"I suppose it's all about priorities. What is the priority of Dublin City Council? Obviously, they've built really good biking facilities now where you can cycle more safely around the city centre. But for people who are trying to use their bicycles, it's more difficult to find a place for them to store properly and safely and legally. I suppose if Dublin City Council want to focus on what their long-term plans are, hopefully bunkers fit into that," said Mr Hoey.
Dublin City Council did not make a spokesperson available to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland but issued a statement saying the bike bunker project is under review.
The council’s website shows there are thousands of on street bike parking spots, hundreds of indoor cycling spaces, and 12 bike bunkers.
Colm Ryder, Dublin Cycling Campaign, told Morning Ireland bike bunkers are part of the overall infrastructure needed to encourage more people to cycle.
"For people, particularly people in in tight situations, in houses with very little space, in apartment blocks with very little space, they need a separate secure space to put their bicycles and so that they can be encouraged to cycle around the city," said Mr Ryder.
Professor in Sustainable Energy at University College Cork, Dr Hannah Daly told the Morning Ireland radio programme that encouraging more people to cycle is important because it helps drive down emissions.
"Promoting cycling to reduce car journeys is essential for meeting our climate commitments. It's one of the core measures in the Climate Action Plan - which sets out how we meet our carbon budget commitments this decade.
"Along with giving more dedicated street space to cycle lanes, we also have to give people options and where to store their bikes. And so, this bike bunker idea is very good, and I think we really need to roll out those measures as quickly as possible," said Professor Daly.
A Dublin City Council report in 2021 proposed the roll out of 350 new bike bunkers in Dublin on the back of previous pilot projects.
It said in that report a tendering process would be ready for Bike Bunkers within six to eight weeks and added the "proposed funding for this project" from the National Transport Authority would "be €3 million over a three-year period".
When contacted about the €3 million funding by Morning Ireland, the NTA said it "wouldn’t rule out supporting a project like this if Dublin City Council applies for funding".
Dublin City Council said in a statement "a scheme review of the Bike Bunker Pilot Project is currently under way" and "it would be premature to comment or do an interview".
Green City Councillor for the south east inner city, Claire Byrne said the review "is looking at what would be the best way to scale" up the bike bunkers project.
She said she has an issue about how long decisions on the roll out of Dublin’s 350 bike bunkers had taken.
"My issue around that is that why has it taken four or five years for this review to take place. This is at a time where we have to do this. We have very clear climate targets at the city level at the national level, we have to reduce our transport emissions by 50% by 2030. The way we do that is encouraging people towards more active travel. We're investing millions in safe cycling and walking around the city," Cllr Byrne added.
Dublin City Council said in a statement: "Please be advised that a scheme review of the Bike Bunker Pilot Project is currently underway. The scheme review will produce a comprehensive report on the Bike Bunker Pilot Scheme from its initial trial, including the existing pilot scheme, providing strategic recommendations, review alternative cycle parking options and possible future proposals.
The report once finalised will be presented to Dublin City Council’s Transport SPC, as per normal procedure, prior to being published.
Therefore, as it currently stands, it would be premature to comment or do an interview on how this Bike Bunker pilot scheme is going until the current review and its findings are complete."
It added: "While funding for the expansion of bike bunker infrastructure is one factor to be considered, the current review is taking a wide approach and will look at a number of key factors, including the problems associated with the existing scheme, review alternative cycle parking options and provide strategic recommendations & possible future proposals. Issues associated with the operational and maintenance aspects of running an expanded bike bunker scheme will also be taken into account, as indeed will the constraints & problems that have arisen at some of the existing bike bunker locations. The issue of the availability of suitable & available locations in public streets will also be taken into account."
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