MOTORISTS IN DUBLIN city face disruption, but cyclists will benefit, under new plans set to be brought before Dublin City Council.

Today’s Irish Times reports that Dublin City Council Chief Executive Owen Keegan wants to close one of the car lanes on the North Quays, creating a two-way cycling “highway”.

The plan, however, doesn’t have the support of the city’s new Lord Mayor, Christy Burke.

“I think it would be a disaster, to be honest.

“The road is narrow enough. To fit in a bike lane would be too much.”

Burke told TheJournal.ie that he was supportive of measures that made Dublin safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

“I’d support anything to stop cyclists on paths. I saw one hit a wheelchair the other day and my sister had her hip broken a few weeks ago by a cyclist who ran a red light outside the GPO.”

He added that he was worried that the quays would be too narrow to accommodate the plan.

“There is a stretch from Heuston Station where it is ok, but after Adam and Eve’s Church, it’s very narrow.

“It would be really squeezing it in.

“If engineers feel it could be done, fair enough, but I’d approach with caution.”

Keegan is a cycling enthusiast, who cycles himself. He told the Irish Times that the plan was “not something we have to apologise for”.

Burke says that whatever the plan, he hopes that cyclists are safe.

“I would plead with cyclists to obey the rules of the road. The majority of cyclists obey the law, but there’s others that ignore it.”

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