Cycling and the city
As National Bike Week rolls around, Kjeld van den Heuvel from Cork Cycling Campaign reflects on how cycling is growing in Cork, but also where it's at a crossroads and a standstill.
Cork has been enjoying glorious sunshine lately, and what better way to take it in than from the saddle of a bike? From May 10 to 18, the city is marking National Bike Week - a country-wide celebration that has quietly become one of the most joyful weeks of the year for the Rebel City.
For those who know, cycling is one of the quickest, cheapest, most joyful and healthiest ways to get around - and for those just getting started - Bike Week is a real highlight. The benefits of cycling daily is an open secret among those who choose pedals over petrol, and we hope it inspires more to join us.
Launched in 2009, National Bike Week aims to promote cycling as a healthy, sustainable, and liberating form of transport. Each year, it’s grown in reach and energy, and 2025 is no exception.
What stood out this year was the enthusiasm from local schools hosting events, the long-distance rides across Cork and beyond, and themed cycles exploring nature, local history, and greenways. Other popular events included the Bike Doctors across the city, and the local shops displaying their cargo bikes, which replaces the second car for more families and seen in more school runs. There are also free bike hire schemes that gives new riders a chance to try cycling for the first time.
The Cork Cycling Campaign has seen some real progress in the past decade. More recently the resurfacing of the Marina Promenade, the introduction of e-bikes through the TFI scheme, and a slow but steady improvement in how drivers and cyclists share the roads respectfully all mark steps in the right direction.
Greenways are a big success story for Cork – from the Marina to the recently opened Youghal to Midleton route and the greenway to Passage West has been hugely popular as well. The Glanmire Greenway, due for completion in summer 2026, is highly anticipated and expected to be just as impactful.
Still, challenges remain. Cars continue to park on cycle lanes, and enforcement by An Garda Síochána is inconsistent at best. While conditions are safer than a decade ago, we need stronger structural change. Gardaí using bikes more frequently for events is a good sign, it builds understanding, but without proper enforcement, safety suffers.
If you see illegal parking on footpaths or cycle lanes it can be reported to the Gardaí through the traffic watch portal. This can be useful in highlighting problem areas with the Gardai, and we encourage people to take a few minutes to fill out an online report of these persistent problem areas.
Take MacCurtain Street, for instance. Despite its attractive redesign and potentially people-friendly spaces, illegal parking remains rampant. Cars block footpaths and wheelchair users, and without regular enforcement, including issuing fines, the area can’t be called a true success. We receive frequent images and complaints from the public via social media.
Looking ahead, we hope to see action in the short term on Cork’s ten most dangerous junctions, especially for newer or less confident cyclists. These blackspots have caused a significant number of injuries and near misses. Poor design is mostly to blame, leading many people to give up cycling or warn others away from trying. Albert Quay opposite the Idle Hour is a danger spot that we continue to raise with the council and warn the public to take extra care and pay attention to drivers' intentions when cycling around this corner. Thankfully, many of these junctions can be improved relatively easily, and we have highlighted them.
Another opportunity is improving bike parking on some key spots. Adding 1,000 spaces at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, for example, would ease congestion on match days and encourage more people to cycle to events via the Marina Promenade and Blackrock Greenway, while decongesting the area and giving those that need to use the bus more reliability and capacity. We’ve been advocating for this since 2018 – and the number of bikes keeps growing each year. Go Cork!
Cork also needs to pay more attention to the Northside – not just Southside suburbs and city centre routes. The north-to-centre route remains as cyclist-unfriendly as it was ten years ago. With the growing popularity of e-bikes and the inclusion of cycling equipment in the Bike to Work scheme, now is the time to build demand through proper infrastructure in the Hillier parts of the Cork.
A reason to celebrate is the opening of Half Moon Lane into Tramore Valley Park and the Vernon Mount Bridge over the N40, which, combined are an excellent example of how we induce demand and overcome obstacles by adding high-quality infrastructure. These routes are used by commuters, athletes, and schoolchildren alike.
But many routes still end suddenly or at the old city boundaries. Volunteers in Ballincollig tell us how difficult it is to cycle into the city, often forced to take the footpath. Meanwhile, car congestion is worsening as Cork grows. A well-designed, segregated cycling route from west Ballincollig into the Cork city centre could connect tens of thousands of daily commuters, students from MTU and UCC.
Therefore we continue to support the Lee to Sea Greenway, a visionary project that would serve over 200,000 people. It promises to benefit commuters, leisure cyclists, and tourists alike. We hope to facilitate more Lee2Sea cycles and push this vision for city wide coverage of cycling infrastructure.
Looking to the future, we are optimistic as many upcoming projects are designed in line with the renewed Cycle Design Manual, promising improved safety and comfort. If delivered as planned, Bike Weeks beyond 2027 will be even bigger, better, and more inclusive.
At the Cork Cycling Campaign, we remain committed to working with Cork City Council, local communities, local businesses, and our National Body, the Irish Cycling Campaign to make Cork a more liveable, sustainable city for all. The future of cycling in Cork is bright – let’s keep the wheels turning as we look forward to Bike Week 2026.
Cork Bike Week runs until Sunday May 18 with events organised each day. You can check out the full list here. Cork Cycling Campaign meets on a monthly basis. To learn more about what they do or volunteering, visit Cork Cycling Campaign.
From the archive:
When all Cork cycled
It was the week before Christmas and Kevin Long - firmly in the #andacyclist camp - had just come from a cycle. But it wasn’t a regular cycle.
Great piece and good to see councils finally catching up to reality. Out here in West Cork cycling in the roads is an extreme sport and while I might not cycle from Ballydehob to the city, it would be great to cycle from my house to Ballydehob (6km) - look forward to the word being spread countywide.