In what can only be seen as a major milestone for the S2S campaign, the Dublin Regional Authority, on behalf of Dublin City Council, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council, Dublin Docklands Development Authority and the Dublin Transportation Office, have advertised in Irish and EU journals for consultants to carry out a Preliminary Design Study and Environmental Report for the provision of a promenade and cycleway from Sutton to Sandycove. The move has also been supported by the Minister of Transport, Seamus Brennan TD, who has committed €50,000 towards the cost of the study. The remainder will be funded by the participating bodies. The expectation is that tenders will be submitted early in December and that consultants will be appointed immediately thereafter. Read the full text of the advertisement here.

The Dublin Regional Authority has received 14 proposals from groups comprised of leading professionals in the environmental, engineering, architectural and planning fields for the design and environmental study on the S2S proposal. A short list has been prepared and interviews of the short-listed candidates will be held in mid-February. It is expected that an appointment will be made very shortly thereafter and that the study will be underway by March 2004.

Dublin City Council is the latest local authority to include the S2S proposal in its new draft development plan. The Draft Dublin City Development Plan 2005-2011 will be on public display for a period of 10 weeks, from Monday 2nd February, 2004 to Thursday, 15th April, 2004 (excluding public holidays). The full text of the plan together with dates and venues at which the plan can be viewed, can be found under Services-Planning at Dublin City Council web-site. This is another great boost for the campaign. We ask all supporters of the S2S project to write to Dublin City Council expressing their support for the proposal. Written submissions or observations, marked “Draft Development Plan” should be submitted to the Executive Manager, Planning Department, Dublin City Council, Civic Offices, Wood Quay, Dublin 8.

Another milestone has been reached in the campaign to promote the Sandycove to Sutton Cycleway and Promenade. On Friday 27th February, 2004, ffollowing interviews of a short list of consultants, the Dublin Regional Authority has accepted the recommendation of the interview board and appointed a consortium to undertake the design and environmental study of the proposal. The Consortium is lead by WSP and included AWN Consulting, Ryan Hanley and Tiros Resources. The consortium will start work immediately and is expected to complete the project by next summer. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it will look at the entire route as a single entity. All of the Local Authorities along with the Department of Transport, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and the Dublin Transportation Office are supporting the study.

Support for the project continues to grow. In a letter to Dublin City Council advocating support, Clara Clarke has encapsulated much of what we would hope for the proposal. To quote from her submission:

“As a regular cyclist and walker, I can see the huge merits of this project, which will reclaim the coastline and access to the sea, beaches, and fresh air, safe and removed from cars, lorries and roads. The S2S route, once established, will be used by commuters, families, staff during lunch and break times, as well as exercisers. It will finally encourage people out of cars, even off buses, to avail of the pleasant, SAFER, and environmentally friendlier route to and from their places of work, and as a mode of transport. It will allow students and school-children a quicker, healthier, more fun way of getting to/from school/college.”

The full text of Clara’s mail can be read in the Support section.

The following is the text of an e-mail we received from Brian Maurer, Medical Director, Irish Heart Foundation :
“Warmly support this initiative of which I have only just learned. Can we be of help in progressing the work. With increasing energy costs there will be no better time to start lobbying vigorously.”
Brian Maurer 12th September 2005

We regret that due to technical difficulties and a lack of resources (it happens in all voluntary groups from time to time) -this site has not been updated for some time. We are pleased to announce that we have solved the problems and that the site will be updated regularly from now on. The many supporters will be pleased to know that activity in support of the project has continued and that significant progress has been made. We would hope to be able to report on that in the near future.

On 16th May 2006 the Dublin Regional Authority adopted the WSP report on the S2S project. The entire 22kms has been studied and the environmental and other issues have been identified. A preferred route and alternatives have been proposed and a preliminary estimate has been made of the cost of completing the first phase of the project. This phase is to complete those sections of the route where no promenade or cycleway now exist. At the same meeting of the authority, the Members, who are drawn from the elected Councillors of the 4 Dublin authorities, voted to get each of its members to include the S2S project in its political party’s manifesto. The completion of the report and its adoption by the authorities now opens up the way for the project to proceed to the next stage, which includes detailed design and full environmental impact studies. The process will also involve discussions with the stakeholders, including local communities and residents living near the route. It is estimated that the entire of Phase 1 could be completed in less than 4 years, if it is started immediately.
The full report can be obtained from the Dublin Regional Authority and will be available on their website very soon.

We are delighted to learn that Dublin City Council has invited proposals for the feasibility study and environmental assessment for a section of the project. This is the first such decision by a Local Authority in relation to the promenade and cycleway and is hugely significant. The full text of the advertisement can be seen here . The following is an abstract from the public notice:

“The proposed promenade and cycleway is located on the seaward side of James Larkin Road between the North Bull Island Causeway and the Wooden Bridge at Dollymount, North Dublin. The proposed width is 8 metres and the project extent is approximately 2 kilometres. The scope of the services required include a Feasibility Study and, if the scheme is found to be feasible, a Preliminary Design is to be carried out. The scope of the Feasibility Study will involve a detailed examination of existing data, selection of feasible options after detailed environmental and statutory aspects have been assessed and the determination of cost estimates for these feasible options.”

A new milestone in the campaign was reached today (12th Nov) when the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern T.D. and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. Dick Roche T.D. announced their commitment to promote and support the proposal to upgrade and join up various existing sections of promenade and cycleways to form a continuous route around the 22kms seafront of Dublin Bay.
The announcement was made in a press briefing and photo call on the seafront at Clontarf. This is seen as a huge boost to the campaign and follows meetings between members of the group and the Taoiseach and the Minister. A full copy of the press release can be found here.