Greenway beside active Mayo railway lines?

monument

How about this: Build a Greenway from Wesport to Castlebar to Ballina beside the active railway lines? There seems to be more than enough room and 90-100% of the land is owned by the state.

And then even on to Claremorris and then north to Sligo via the disused Western Railway Corridor tramway?

Sponge Bob

They want to build one in parallel further north. It would go to Kiltimagh not Claremorris and would hook up with the disused Colooney - Tuam railway line ..that to be converted to Greenway.

monument

Sponge Bob wrote: »

They want to build one in parallel further north. It would go to Kiltimagh not Claremorris and would hook up with the disused Colooney - Tuam railway line ..that to be converted to Greenway.

Is this the on-road / along road stuff they are taking about? It could be dreadful if it's anything like what they have put in to the south-west of Westport on road. Doing it along the railway line has a lot of advantages if Irish Rail was willing to play ball and/or the minister willing to push them.

The Western Railway Corridor as a greenway north of Tuam is a no brainier really.

Sponge Bob

No, more like the Lough Annagh Greenway, read this

http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/52735/ring-announces-funding-for-castlebar-to-turlough-greenway

and this

http://www.smartertravel.ie/sites/default/files/uploads/NCN%20application%20form%20sumitted%20to%20the%20dttas.pdf

monument

Sponge Bob wrote: »

No, more like the Lough Annagh Greenway, read this

Ah, yes. For some reason when that news came out I thought it was on-road and that stuck even after reading it was not.

Constructive criticise: I don't think agreements with landowners is sustainable in the long run, nor is gravel for a national route.

westtip

I think you mean something like this OP - a perfect solution - but apparently simply not possible in Ireland, with some imagination this kind of solution would deliver a national network of greenways very quickly.

Cookie_Monster

the whole H&S 'think of the children' brigade would be falling over themselves to point out how insanely dangerous that would be and kill it before it got anywhere...

corktina

probably so...much more dangerous than a line crossing a road at right angles or in any other way obviously :rolleyes:

corktina

westtip wrote: »

I think you mean something like this OP - a perfect solution - but apparently simply not possible in Ireland, with some imagination this kind of solution would deliver a national network of greenways very quickly.

AND preserve the rail route for re-use at some future time.

dowlingm

AND provide a maintenance road for IE vegetation and other maintenance works.

westtip

corktina wrote: »

AND preserve the rail route for re-use at some future time.

I know the trouble is its far too simple and easy and common sensical solution for this country and we would have to have an endless debate with the stakeholders, Irish rail, Failte Ireland, county councils, mothers against children walking alongside raillines, children against mothers walking alongside rail lines, tricyclists rights on greenways pressure group, gay tricyclists rights on greenways pressure group, etc etc.

In other words no one will just say - do it.

Sponge Bob

You'd be amazed at what a weekend and some strimmers and shovels and wheelbarrows could do....a whole retro National Monument on a mountain in Achill comes to mind.

gobnaitolunacy

westtip wrote: »

I think you mean something like this OP - a perfect solution - but apparently simply not possible in Ireland, with some imagination this kind of solution would deliver a national network of greenways very quickly.

Where is the pic taken?

westtip

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Where is the pic taken?

TBH not sure - its somewhere in the UK, I pulled it from a resource document about greenways published by sustrans www.sustrans.org.uk its the place to go to resource any information on greenways.

I submitted a paper to the department of transport about parallel greenways but got very little response, I will fish out a copy and post it up.