IMAGES: Castlebar to Turlough Greenway

Earlier this year the Castlebar to Turlough Greenway opened and below are some of the images we captured shortly after the launch.

The 8km greenway mainly follows the Castlebar River and links the county town and National Museum of Ireland Country Life. Although currently unconnected, all greenways in Co Mayo are to be branded as the ‘Great Western Greenway’ (the name first given to the Westport to Achill greenway).

Here’s three fairly typical sections of the Castlebar to Turlough route, which is mostly along the river with fields alongside it:

There is, however, a bit of a mix:

The route’s signage design is clear:

However, there are a few issues with the route. Like the original Great Western Greenway, there’s one impossibly steep hill. This time there’s a warning sign which indicates the slope. Although it’s a small sign and we’re not sure if it’s correct:

The steep hill is made worse by a swing gate at the top — if you’re fit enough to cycle, pull, or push a bicycle, bicycle with trailer or pram up the hill, the gate is another challenge. From our experience, it’s not fun with a child on a child seat.

One of the other flaws is how a junction on the route interacts with a T-junction off the N5, where traffic turning will be at high speeds and there is a lack of visibility between that left-turning traffic and the greenway junction (location marked with the while directional sign)…

Closer to Castlebar town there’s some very industrial security fences. Using green-painted ones hardly softens them up, and it will take time before any greenery does that job…

Bridges on the route are attractive, if not just a little small:

Cleverly, Mayo County Council used solar-powered pumps to fill water troughs where the greenway blocks direct access to the river water:

Besides the swing gate at the top of the hill mentioned above, the access arrangements are progressive and should allow for easy access for all bicycles and trailers — the council has to be commended for this: