Transport minister Shane Ross today launched public consultation on the Strategy for the Future Development of Greenways”, open for submissions up to July 14.
Minister Ross also confirmed €4.5m funding for a section of the Dublin to Galway Greenway in Kildare and Meath and €1.6m on work on the Waterford Greenway.
The Dublin to Galway Greenway funding covers from Maynooth to Westmeath Border, which the department calls a “Continuation of works commenced in 2016”, and Waterford Greenway funding covers the “completion of works including additional surfacing, Bilberry Road extension and accommodation works”.
In a statement, Minister Ross said: “I’m delighted to publish this public consultation paper which aims to seek the views of all those interested in the development of greenways in Ireland. The paper discusses a wide range of issues surrounding the development of greenways and poses a number of questions to prompt further debate and inform the development of an overarching Strategy for the future development of Greenways.m”
The Department of Transport said that the public consultation paper sets out the policy context for Government investment in Greenways, including their value from an economic, health, tourism, transport, community, and rural regeneration perspective.
He added: “Importantly, the paper seeks views from interested parties on some of the more contentious issues that have arisen in the development of some greenway projects and asks what approach should be taken to such issues in future.”
He said: “Since becoming Minister I have been inundated with requests from all around the country for funding for Greenways. It is important that we target our investment in greenways that will deliver the most for their communities and for the country at large. The outcome of this public consultation will inform the development of a new Greenways Strategy to ensure that future funding is spent on the right projects, in the right areas and at the right time. To make sure that we take the right approach in future we need as many people as possible to give us their views during this public consultation process.”
Details are published on a paper at smartertravel.ie. Submissions can be made electronically to [email protected] or by post to: Sustainable Transport Division, Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport, Leeson LanE, D02 TR60. The closing date for submissions is Friday July 14.
Good to see. Imagine if cycleways/greenways got 10% of what roadways got.
It is great to see a section of the Galway to Dublin Greenway or Euro Velo route one being built at last Maynooth to West Meath Border. But we badly need to have the section from Dublin to Maynooth built as a priority too. The section from Sheriff St to Newcumen Bridge on the Nth Strand is vitally important and needs to be built first.
I’m clearly biased because I live in Dublin but I’m really enthusiastic for the Dublin to Galway greenway. Hopefully I see it in my lifetime and it won’t have been compromised too much.
Kind of an aside but I think it should be a requirement for any M20 project to include a high quality off road cycle route alongside. I believe other countries have successfully done this using embankments and/or vegetation to reduce the car noise to an acceptable level.
I’ve made a similar point to the NRA about the M28. Carrigaline is the most car dependent town in Ireland.
Cross Gunns Bridge down to Seville place should have a high quality cycling route. If cyclist per km was used as a qualifying metric, it’d blow Enfield-Westmeath away….
I am absolutely in favour of the greenway, and any incremental advance in this scheme is good news, but surely the priority should be finishing the inner-city portion and the commuter-friendly section from Maynooth to Blanchardstown (which is mostly in terrible condition)? Completion of these sections would allow the Greater Dublin section of the greenway to function as a bicycle commuter route before moving on with the wider plan.
That said, I have seen surveyors on the canal at Leixlip in recent days so maybe there is movement in that area also. Anybody know if that is the case?
Agreed on any future urban/suburban Motorway project having an obligatory cycle lane alongside.
Good idea on any major road upgrade (not just motorways) having proper safe and sensible (ie people will want to use them) cycle-ways being mandatory as part of the plans. Cyclist.ie and the various cycle campaign bodies around the country should definitely push for this. It would take a fraction of the cost of any such project to have proper cycle-ways integrated into the scheme. And I emphasize the need for these cycle-ways to be sensible – not just tacked on at the side of the road with zero consideration for priorities etc. Any road upgrades / widening in the past seemed to take absolutely no heed of the needs of pedestrians or cyclists that might want to use the area.
Actually regarding the motorways in many places the TII/NRA built, or is building, parallel service roads for agricultural traffic accessing fields. They would make ideal cycleways as they only have a few tractors a day. The problem is that they do not connect up – nobody thinks past facilitating this or that landowner. As always the main problem is that there is effectively nobody in charge of delivering on state policy in this country.
@shane
For most of those roads for farmer access the farmers will have agreed to them. Given past evidence, unfortunately I can see most farmers screaming blue murder if it was suggested that cyclists are allowed to access these roads.
I am in meetings with farmers who see no problem with using them. The problem for the farmers has been that the TII/NRA/DoTTS have been insisting that any Greenways/Cycleways must be new build roads through working farms and cannot be shared with any kind of motor traffic at all.
With respect Shane, that is anecdotal. We have seen considerable resistance from farmers to any effort to introduce dedicated cycle routes anywhere where there is not a clearly defined pre-existing railway or canal track that has managed to remain in public hands. Adding a cycle track beside a motorway while it is being built is not an alternative to a greenway, but it would offer a cheap cycle network for those who wanted to use it for practical transport purposes as opposed to tourism where following a motorway or major road for a couple of hundred kilometers is never going to be attractive.
The mystery to me is how actual Motorway projects seem significantly less controversial in the farming community than greenways, and yes that is anecdotal and yes it is referring to the western portion of the Dublin Galway greenway that has been shelved indefinitely.
While I’m at it, what about the mess in South Kerry? The state closes a rail line and hands over our land to adjoining landowners (clearly a very foolish move), some of whom now refuse to sell it back to the state for the common good, but who will not accept CPO’s either, so Catch 22 for everyone again, stagnation and no vital tourist infrastructure project for a region that badly needs it. Self-righteous outrage trumps common sense yet again.
Having read through the proposal, I think it is vitally important that everyone that cares about this topic responds and has their say. Please read and respond and make your voice heard:
http://www.smartertravel.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/2017_05_19%20Publication%20Version_0.pdf