Comment & Analysis: The plans to link both The Wonderful Barn to the Kildare Innovation Campus using a new bridge over the M4 will be a dramatic improvement in safety for people who cycle for leisure or for commuting to work in the Celbridge and Leixlip areas.
However, it is unclear what the width of the cycle lanes will be through the Kildare innovation campus, and will they be within the current recommended standards of 4 metres with high density and high usage greenways? It’s also unclear how the route will link up to the Castletown estate.
In North Dublin, Fingal County Council is currently building a new bridge over the Broadmeadow Way estuary to link into Newbridge Demesne, and there is no shortage of information and public awareness campaigns in highlighting this flagship project, which will be transformative to the local area and for tourism in Fingal County Council.
The same level of information is lacking. There may be valid reasons. Is it due to further planning to take place? Will there be a consultation soon on the project? It’s unclear how a project like this, owned by the Kildare Innovation Campus but open to the public, will work. Will the public have access after hours in the evening during the summertime or on the weekends?
To add further complexity to access rights, the planning permission for the cycle lanes only goes to the Northeast boundary to the Castletown estate. It’s unclear if the OPW will give access rights to the Castletown estate for people who cycle and walk from The Wonderful Barn and Kildare Innovation Campus.
What do we know so-far? On May 9th this year, CEO of the Kildare Innovation Campus, Allan Shine announced a €2.4 Billion expansion of Kildare Innovation Campus (KIC), claiming it to be one of Europe’s most advanced carbon-neutral campuses.
The masterplan’s overarching themes are science, technology and innovation. The plans mention a network of cycle lanes will eventually link many green spaces from The Wonderful Barn in Leixlip to Castletown estate in Celbridge. One of the key pieces will be the installation of a new bridge over the M4 similar to the one in Kilmacthomas for the Waterford Greenway.
This article will focus on the cycling and walking links that will be provided to the public, which will benefit local residents and staff commuting to the new campus and further afield.
The Wonderful Barn
The Wonderful Barn was built in 1743 as a famine relief scheme. Its design was both to act as a functional grain store and also to be an architectural structure to admire. It is built in line with that it can be seen from the Castletown Estate. The barn rises to a height of 70 feet in a tapering cone, is encircled by a cantilevered staircase with a crow’s nest viewing gallery. It is adjoined by a courtyard area in which two conical pigeon houses are found and also by Barnhall House, which was constructed shortly before the barn complex.
Kildare County Council recently held a public consultation on the proposed Part 8 planning application for renovation and restoration of the wonderful barn site. Improvements in the cycling network were mentioned in the proposed plans:
“The proposed internal route will link to the Celbridge/Backweston to Leixlip cycle route proposed (by others) to the south via the Kildare Innovation Campus (formerly the Hewlett Packard site) and via the M4 pedestrian/cycle overpass. The proposed internal route within the Wonderful Barn site allows for future connections to planned cycle infrastructure improvements along the R404 Celbridge Road towards Leixlip Town Centre, to be delivered by Kildare County Council.
Realignment and improvements to pedestrian, cycle and vehicular access to site including all necessary infrastructure works required to integrate the site with a proposed M4 Cycle/Walkway bridge.“
Further details of the Part 8 Development of the wonderful barn site can be found at kildarecoco.ie
Kildare County Council also mentions the development of connecting The Wonderful Barn to Castletown estate in Chapter 5 of its Development Plan 2023 -2029
Chapter 5: Sustainable transport and mobility: TM A7: Develop a new pedestrian and cycle link from Celbridge/Backweston to Leixlip, via Castletown House, through Kildare Innovation Campus (former Hewlett Packard site), across the M4 to the Wonderful Barn and onto Leixlip Town Centre and Leixlip Louisa Bridge Station, in accordance with the requirements of TII publications.
The links include a new cycling and walking bridge across the M4 from the Wonderful Barn to the Kildare Innovation Campus. The new routes will be join up with a network of rights of way already open to residents in Barnhall estate to the wonderful barn.
Kildare Innovation Campus
The 184-acre site situated in North Kildare was previously the Hewlett Packard printer cartridges facility which ended production in 2018. In 2021, the site was developed into the Kildare Innovation Campus.
The campus includes many well-known companies such as ikon Precision Europe, MGS Ireland, Mercury, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Cully Automation and DXC Technology.
The planning application description of what is to be built is as follows:
Construction of internal access roads, footpaths and cycle paths including a publicly accessible link road between Celbridge Road (R404) to the east and Barnhall Road (R449) to the west. Construction of a new pedestrian and cycle overpass across the M4 motorway and pedestrian/cycle path adjacent to lands known as the Wonderful Barn Allotments; the overpass will link the new publicly accessible link road within Kildare Innovation Campus to the entrance of Barnhall Meadows estate. Undergrounding and diversion of the existing overhead 10Kv/20kv overhead line adjacent to the M4 Motorway. The pedestrian and cycle route within the Kildare Innovation Campus will provide a link from the new public link road, along the protected view corridor (between Castletown Estate & Wonderful Barn) to the north-eastern boundary of Castletown Estate.
The installation of cycle lanes will be done over a number of phases.
Phase 1 from 2024 to 2027 aims will include the development of a public Link Road connecting the R449 Barnhall Road to the R404 Celbridge Road with a new signalised intersection at the R404 will be constructed. The existing signalised intersection will be removed and road and access reinstated. The M4 pedestrian and cycle overpass including links to the entrance of Barnhall Meadows estate and the connections along the protected view line will be developed.
Phase 3 from 2028 to 2035: The existing campus road, which provides entrance from the Celbridge Road roundabout, will be extended and linked up with the internal campus road adjacent to the view corridor. All associated cycle paths and footpaths will be linked up. Infrastructure will be demolished to make way for the build-out of Phase 3
The developers say that the proposed pedestrian and cycle links will be delivered in Phase 1 of the project. Through the designated view line the pedestrian pathway is proposed to be a self-bound gravel in buff colour or similar (as required by KCC).
The pedestrian and cycle path will be brought to the boundary with Castletown Estate, providing an opportunity for a future link into Castletown Estate. The pedestrian and cycle path will continue along the campus road up to the entry of the campus at Barnhall Roundabout. All pedestrian paths and cycleways will be accessible by the public but will remain in campus ownership.
Those involved in planning and developing the plan were contacted, and this article will be updated or a further article published if the questions are answered.
IMAGE 6: KIC campus map with proposed cycling infrastructure and M4 bridge. Letter E marks the spot where the bridge will cross over the M4. Image taken from KIC masterplan.
why does every cycleway need to be 4 metres wide? That has hugely complicated the greenway from intel to pikes bridge.. if we go further west to cloondara, is it 4 metres or tarmac all the way? no. should we tear it all up then?