28 May 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Green Party Councillor for Cork City South West, Colette Finn, today said that we need to provide cycling infrastructure to allow healthcare workers in Cork to cycle to and from work safely. Speaking today, Cllr. Finn said:
“I’ve been contacted by frontline healthcare workers in CUH that are looking for safe cycling routes in order to get to and from work. Yesterday I cycled with Ruaidhri De Barra (Sustainability Officer), Dr Tim Keady and Dr Vinnie Wall from CUH to the cycle lane on the Western Road and back along College Road and Glasheen Road. Along that route there is either no space designated for cycling, or various dangerous pinch points. As a council we need to identify how we can keep front line healthcare workers safe as they cycle to and from work.
“We have been blessed with glorious weather lately. Lots more people have taken to the streets by bicycle. Let us show real appreciation for our healthcare workers by allocating more space for them as they cycle to and from where they care for us when we need them.”
“There’s also been an issue of secure bike parking,” Cllr. Finn added, referring to reports in recent weeks of bikes being stolen from hospital campuses. “For example, in the Bons Secours hospital on College Road, workers are securing their bikes to a railing around the corner from the main entrance, and numbers using that railing in recent weeks have skyrocketed. There’s been reports of thefts of bikes in CUH as well. Can you imagine that? Working a long, tiring shift, and then coming out to see your bike has gone missing? There are solutions available, including temporary or ‘pop-up’ parking that could be installed in more easily policeable areas or, perhaps more permanently, investing in bike lockers in or near our hospitals.”
Intermediate solutions being proposed by community groups include the installation of temporary bollards, commonly known as Orcas, to facilitate pop-up cycling lanes throughout the city.