Royal Canal Greenway - current status of Meath section

Ste.phen

Hi all,

I'll be cycling west this weekend towards Mullingar, and though I know the Royal Canal greenway is open / complete from the Westmeath Border as far as Mullingar ( got a helpful map here: http://www.lakesidewheelers.ie/greenway ), I'm not so sure about the sections closer to Dublin

The most recent info I could find said :
A section near Maynooth was due to be finished by the 'End of 2016'
Another section from Moyvalley to Ballasport was due to be finished by 'Spring 2017'

Anyone know if either section is passable yet, or is the best method currently to travel by road to where the Westmeath section of the greenway starts?

eve

I'm not sure where you are planning to start and I haven't been on some of these paths in a while but here's what I know of the grand canal outbound from the city:
Out as far as castleknock is great with a finished and sealed surface for the most part
Just past castleknock the surface and the path are very rough. Last time I was on it a few years ago it was narrow with roots and mud sections and not suitable for a bike
Near clonsilla is turns into tarmac and is fine.
Past clonsilla it turns to grass as far as leixlip comfey (this is a long section)
Confey to Louisa bridge is little better than compacted earth. Fine if it's dry but does get standing water if it's been wet
After Louisa the next section has gravel but then turns to compacted earth. It's not a long section (less than a k) and then back to gravel as far as maynooth.
West of Maynooth is the section that was closed since the end of last year and only reopened lately. It is compacted gravel to the next bridge then it gets messy.
This is Jackson bridge and westbound. It seems that they took the top layer of grass off this section and it has left it as a clay surface with broken roots and stones on it. It was very muddy and wet when I was out that way about 2 months ago and I don't know if anything has been done with it since. The alternative at this point is the Maynooth-kilcock road which is twisty at points but ok
Once you get closer to kilcock you start into the recently opened tarmac into kilcock harbour

Unfortunately I don't know anything about west of that.

Ste.phen

BTW it looks like you described the Royal Canal, but said Grand Canal in the post, but thanks, that's good info! ��

My plan at present is to take the Grand Canal towpath as far as Lucan (excellent tarmac surface from Suir Road to Lucan), then streets to Maynooth.

If the Royal Canal towpath had a good surface I was going to take that, but sounds from the above that I should plan to take the regular road towards Kilcock until I get to the recently opened tarmac section

Unless I hear otherwise I'll plan to take streets to Furey's in moyvalley and join the Royal Canal towpath again there, then follow that to where the

De Bhál

Castleknock to Clonsilla is very tough going in places. I was on it a few weeks ago. Mud , narrow path and exposed tree roots all alongside a sizeable messy drop in to the canal. If i was a nervous enough cyclist I'd avoid that bit. Also no place for kids either.

Seems like you won't be on that section but sure no harm other people knowing

Ste.phen

Yeah I've made that mistake before on a road bike, but always forget which section it is :P

cdaly_

Ste.phen wrote: »

BTW it looks like you described the Royal Canal, but said Grand Canal in the post, but thanks, that's good info! ��

My plan at present is to take the Grand Canal towpath as far as Lucan (excellent tarmac surface from Suir Road to Lucan), then streets to Maynooth.

If the Royal Canal towpath had a good surface I was going to take that, but sounds from the above that I should plan to take the regular road towards Kilcock until I get to the recently opened tarmac section

Unless I hear otherwise I'll plan to take streets to Furey's in moyvalley and join the Royal Canal towpath again there, then follow that to where the

I was out almost to Moyvalley in January.

Beyond Maynooth to the Kilkock tarmac was very poor and muddy. Good for a bit west of Kilkock until you cross to the south side of the canal. Hard going there for a while when wet but should be good when dry. Long grass with occasional mud.

West of Enfield is pretty good with a narrow section for the last km or so to Moyvalley. Passable enough though narrow and close to the canal edge. I ran out of light so turned back before reaching Moyvalley.

Don't rush, bring something to clean mud out of your mudguards and enjoy the ride.

benneca1

Decent Surface doesn't begin until Mary lynches pub far side of kinnegad. Part between Enfield and there is a mix of gravel and some grass fine on MTB but if using road bike could be a bit bumpy

benneca1

Decent Surface doesn't begin until Mary lynches pub far side of kinnegad. Part between Enfield and there is a mix of gravel and some grass fine on MTB but if using road bike could be a bit bumpy

Ste.phen

Update for anyone else interested in this based on cycling much of this last Sunday

At the moment the canal towpath is closed for construction (i.e. inaccessible) from just after Fureys pub in Moyvalley until Hill Of Down - turns out there's a notice on Waterways Ireland's site about this which id missed - it looks open at Fureys but about 500m-1k later there's a barrier and signage indicating the closure and the surface becomes impassible.

The next section, from Hill Of Down to the county border with Westmeath is also under construction but accessible.
It is however extremely difficult to pass - looks like they've laid foundations for a tarmac road but not yet surfaced it.
it's hard packed rock and I'd say it's totally impassible on a road bike, and is both slow-going and with a high puncture risk on a hybrid or MTB

From the Westmeath border the surface becomes hard packed dirt which in the dry weather I had was perfectly passable, and the surface remains good right into Mullingar from that point

I didn't continue on the canal after Mullingar, but took the Old Rail Trail greenway to Athlone - the surface of that greenway is excellent and it's a very enjoyable cycle to Athlone (though it suddenly terminates at the Athlone end currently)

velo.2010

That's good to know. So it appears the stretch from Kilcock to Moyvalley/Enfield remains the largest section to be dealt with. At the rate there going, it could be finish before the summer is out. Fantastic to have that as an alternative during the winter months and avoiding the worsening road surfaces in that region.

Ste.phen

velo.2010 wrote: »

That's good to know. So it appears the stretch from Kilcock to Moyvalley/Enfield remains the largest section to be dealt with.

I stayed with the canal from Kilcock until the Meath border, and that was fine, but had to take regular roads until Moyvalley (at which point I encountered the closure i mentioned above) - looks like the Meath section was the biggest 'gap' but that it's being worked on presently and in a few months it should be easily passable from kilcock right to Mullingar