Greenways [greenway map of Ireland in post 1]

hans aus dtschl · 06-12-2023 2:55pm

I still don't really understand the effort and expense of some of the structures designed to protect people's trespass rights on the line. But it's great that it allowed the project to move ahead without legal challenges I guess.

whisky_galore · 07-12-2023 6:13pm

Overengineered to drag the arse out of the job and maximize profit. There's an OTT bridge made of wind turbine blades which must have cost a pretty penny.

Limkip · 11-12-2023 12:34am

Third round of consultation for the Mayo Greenway connectivity improvement in Newport on the Mayo County Council consultation website: consult.mayo.ie/en/consultation/great-western-greenway-newport-town-public-consultation-no-3-emerging-preferred-option-november-2023-0

Unfortunately it looks like they're not going to go through the old Railway Tunnel for this one. On the Northern entrance of the tunnel there seems to be some private development on that line that is probably preventing it being included in the plans. At least it includes the viaduct.

Westernview · 11-12-2023 1:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121481270#Comment_121481270

Thanks for that. It's a shame it isn't coming through the tunnel as it will mean quite a steep ascent to get from street level to the viaduct level on the southern side. Coming through the tunnel would have been much easier from a cycling point of view, not to mention a spectacular first impression of the town.

To make things worse the private residence built on the abutment was only constructed in the last 14 years. The before and after situation can be seen on streetview from 2 different roads.

The 2 road crossing points south of the river look potentially dangerous also.

L1011 · 13-12-2023 12:09am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121461731#Comment_121461731

The Irish Rail FOI list shows that someone has been poking in to other attempts to deflect giving data on trespassers being let squat inactive but CIE owned lines / potential greenways; and Irish Rail is of course being as obstructive and expensive in FOI costs as possible.

Markcheese · 13-12-2023 7:14pm

Just looked at the foynes line reinstatement, its 42 km , was expected to take 18 months for phase 1 , and obviously has to be engineered to take goods trains - restore bridges ect ,

And i was comparing it to the midleton youghal greenway , a projected 15 million euro project , that started early 2020, its 23 km long ,that was supposed to be finished by the end of 2022, no major engineering originally envisioned,

I know covid got in the way ,so 3 or 4 months of delay ,

And theyre hoping to maybe get the first few kilometres open for next summer ,

spacetweek · 16-12-2023 1:00am

I think it turned out to be more difficult to build than they expected.

ED E · 16-12-2023 1:10pm

So are we still waiting for a commencement on the last little keystone segment of 12th lock to Hazelhatch? Frustrating when other bits are now all sorted.

Pete_Cavan · 18-12-2023 9:56pm

Two initial consultations on potential greenways based on broad study area maps;

https://www.dundalkcarlingfordgreenway.ie/publications

and

https://consult.tipperarycoco.ie/consultations/Cahir-to-Cashel-Greenway--Public-Consultation-1

Both will almost certainly be predominantly/exclusively alongside the existing R road given the lack of other available route between the stated towns.

riddlinrussell · 20-12-2023 11:55am

Dundalk to Carlingford does have "Potential" to run along the old railway (if this is feasible in practice remains to be seen)

The Cahir to Cashel route is more interesting to me as its the first time I'm aware of where a greenway is being formed from "whole cloth" so to speak (Athlone to Galway section of EV2 notwithstanding as its more of a "we need to finish this route"). There is no particularly obvious canal/railway option between the two towns, the Suir being the closest thing to a roadless connection, so it will be an interesting one to watch.

EDIT: Looking at the study area I suspect they want to co-opt/"Upgrade" the section of the Tipperary Heritage Way between Cashel and Cahir. So out from Cashel to Golden, then down alongside the Suir to Cahir.

Pete_Cavan · 20-12-2023 3:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121517379#Comment_121517379

For Dundalk to Carlingford, there is very little of the railway left. Unless there are some very accommodating landowners, I'd say the greenway will have to be mostly alongside the road. It may be possible to cut across the bay like the railway did but I'm sure that area is environmentally sensitive which could be very problematic.

For Cahir to Cashel, I'd expect the preferred route to be alongside the R639. Land was bought for road widening which is not required now due to the M8. With the land already in state-ownership, the cost is low and the potential for problems is much lower. At the Cahir end, I'd like to see it use the L road on the western side of the M8 and the along the R639 from Racecourse Cross. That would avoid all the roundabouts at Cahir which would not be pleasant to cycle through.

It would be great to link in Golden but I suspect that would have to be a separate project (possibly a route to Tipp town and eventually Limerick). It's one of those place where I'd love to see a new road bridge built and the old bridge kept pedestrian/cyclist only.

FinnC · 20-12-2023 4:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502630#Comment_121502630

Supposed to be starting in January with a completion date for the end of next year.

timmyntc · 20-12-2023 5:16pm

Public consultations for 2 greenways in Donegal earlier this month.

https://buncranacarndonaghgreenway.ie/public-consultation-2/

https://burtonportletterkennygreenway.ie/public-consultation-2/

L1011 · 20-12-2023 8:18pm

Burtonport route options PDF crashes Edge and hangs Chrome; and barely displays in Firefox.

They have so many sub options identified and nothing to explain why any option is any better than another.

mayo.mick · 22-12-2023 4:28pm

The Sligo Greenway from Collooney to Bellaghy progresses to phase 2

https://www.oceanfm.ie/2023/12/22/proposed-sligo-greenway-project-moves-to-next-phase/

whisky_galore · 23-12-2023 12:37pm

It's funny that in all the Sligo Greenway website bumpf there's zero mention of the owners of "their" route.

pigtown · 27-12-2023 7:29pm

Limerick Council are investigating a greenway parallel to the Foynes Limerick railway line

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/1376902/discussions-on-going-for-passenger-rail-transport-to-ryder-cup.html

Pete_Cavan · 30-12-2023 9:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121541328#Comment_121541328

I wonder would narrowing and moving to one side the driving lanes on the existing N21 between Rathkeale and Adare be a better option. It's a wide road and will see very little traffic once the M21 is extended and would be easy and inexpensive to add a segregated walking/cycling lane. Alongside the rail line would require major work in places, parts of it are on a narrow embankment and bridges aren't wide enough to accommodate a greenway.

whisky_galore · 01-01-2024 10:46am

I'm sure people will be well compensated "investigating" this. Too much money flittered away on pointless exercises, it's going to be a railway and that's it, move on.

pigtown · 01-01-2024 11:24am

Yes. Let's not investigate all possible greenway routes because of a hunch. That's the way infrastructure should be planned.

GalwayGooner1996 · 02-01-2024 7:18pm

Anyone know if Kildare Co Co have plans to progress the Grand Canal Greenway west of Sallins to the Offaly border? On the Waterways Ireland website, it’s says that’s it’s ’Awaiting Construction’.

riddlinrussell · 03-01-2024 1:12am

As far as I know, Part 8 has been approved for a good while and its a case of funding construction, Sallins to Hazelhatch is now completed as 'Phase 1' and Naas to Sallins is likely to go to Part 8 shortly.

Not sure what else is in the pipeline 'ahead' of it (Maynooth to Dublin Border on the Royal Canal?)

GalwayGooner1996 · 03-01-2024 9:50pm

Royal Canal does appear to be the priority but that’s planned to be completed in the coming months.

With SDCC kicking off 12th Lock to the border and Offaly CC finishing up the remaining stretch to Shannon Harbour, it would leave the Sallins to Offaly border stretch the only substantial portion outstanding. Hopefully some update from Kildare CC soon.

ohographite · 05-01-2024 1:50am

I've heard a couple of times that if a greenway is built alongside an active railway, the railway must have a speed limit of no more than 40km/h. Can anyone here confirm if this is true or not?

CatInABox · 05-01-2024 7:24am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121573308#Comment_121573308

I was going to say that it's not true, because it sounds totally farfetched, but I don't actually have any evidence. I would say however, that a greenway is planned alongside the dart line at Malahide, and if there was such a restriction, then there would have been uproar when it was announced.

I just really don't see why it'd be necessary. I mean, I think trains go through stations faster than that when they're not stopping there, and there's no fence between the platform and the track there, while there would be with a greenway.

Seth Brundle · 05-01-2024 11:39am

I've not heard anything on that - I'd be more inclined to believe that it was a form of fearmongering - "stop the new greenway because it will slow down our trains"

hans aus dtschl · 05-01-2024 11:46am

Yeah it sounds like fearmongering. There's some people spreading a lot of rumours about greenways at the moment. Things like "scooters will be banned" and "e-bikes will be banned" etc. Weird statements.

Cork Co Co are building a greenway right beside the railway line on the Midleton alignment and there's no talk of speed restrictions and IÉ are fully involved throughout the design process to make sure their current and future operations aren't affected. There are also buildings and people's gardens right beside the rail line, and IÉ just put up big barrier walls between both, when they need to prevent issues. Some of the barrier walls are transparent plexiglass which is quite nice, as it doesn't block light So yeah I'm calling total BS on this one.