Athlone thread

veryangryman

There was of course money put forward for cycling facilities east and west of town centre. I cant really see where they'll make room out to Baylough.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120385207#Comment_120385207

Is it not primarily a leisure facility anyway? Somewhere to get in a bit of exercise without being confined to the four walls of a gym or a soggy sports field.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120386771#Comment_120386771

No reason it can't be both, especially the bits close to the town.

rn

In fairness it's going through a really nice part of the Midlands.

The transport access planning for West Athlone needs to happen independently anyway.

There's a case for bus lanes and one way system on West as well. Bus lane and cycle lane along accommodation road going into Athlone. Exit Athlone via connacht Street. Again single lane for cars, other lane for buses.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120386889#Comment_120386889

Yeah I know, just disappointed I guess, was hoping to be able to use it as an alternative to mixing with road traffic

jimmyendless

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120385207#Comment_120385207

My grandchildren will love it, in whatever future decade it arrives.

afkasurfjunkie

I didn’t think it was the crusties blocking the more direct route, but the local farmers aghast at the very notion that someone might leave a gate open into or out of their field.

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120389748#Comment_120389748

In fairness, that is a valid concern (though that can happen anyway regardless of greenways)

I thought the farmers main issue was the potential to divide their farms. Again, this happens a lot with new roads and provisions are made to make the split workable.

jimmyendless

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/heartbroken-farm-family-fears-the-worst-if-greenway-goes-ahead/

See these kinds of pieces over and over again. Loads of fearmongering with no data to back it up. We have hundreds of kms of greenway around ireland, if this is happening in those places then its a valid concern, but these articles basically brainstorm "what is theoretically the worst things that could happen".

Farms being split in half is obviously a valid concern.

what's the difference between a railway line cutting your farm in half or a greenway doing the same, apart from the fact that the cyclists cannot go as fast, emit fewer fumes and will lose in any collision with a cow!

roosterman71

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120391219#Comment_120391219

No difference at all. Nor a road. Is the issue here that it's not on an existing disused railway and that the route is land that has to be bought which may discombode the landowner. Every case is different and in some cases it may be fine to route around a road to the piece cut off, or put in crossing gates, etc, etc

I think fear of trouble like robberies and things are small. Criminals aren't usually going to rock up on Raleighs to break into places.

The Agriland article outlines a good few concerns of landowners. Most are miniscule but severing a farm in 2 is big for reasons outlined (moving stock and machinery).

jimmyendless

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120386609#Comment_120386609

Coming back to this, the route was apparently picked as it would use as much public land as possible because dealing with private land owners is a nightmare and also seems that council is terrible at engaging.

The preferred route for the Athlone-Galway greenway has been released

Here's the route once it crosses the river

The virtual consultation room is now available for all other parts of the route and other info

https://www.galwaytoathlonecycleway.com/

rn

You couldn't accuse it of being a boring straight line!

Looks to be following existing boundaries.

I'd say the main difference between a rail line splitting you're farm and a greenway is mainly the rail line split the farm in the 1870s and they've only just about got over their annoyance 150 years later!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120408683#Comment_120408683

You couldn't accuse it of being a boring straight line!

Aye, the problem is, the entire route is like this. I stopped counting 90 degree turns when I got to 150ish.

It also bypasses almost every town and village. It's so bad at this, when it gets to Oranmore it does a loop out onto the dual carriageway instead of going through the village

It going to be a really crap experience and not one I ever plan on experiencing.

Sunny Dayz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120409197#Comment_120409197

It's no good being miles and miles away from towns and villages. Most people cycling the greenway are recreational cyclers who want to stop off for a cuppa or a break every so often.

veryangryman

A brutal design altogether. Some very feeble negotiators in the planning team. Wouldn't have got them planning the IU Motorways where a simple "p1ss off nimby, here's a few quid" got things moving.

Freddiestar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120308619#Comment_120308619

I got that plunger in Jimmys , for that to work the dent needs to be on a completely flat surface, this dent is across 2 surfaces so I couldn't get any suction

Freddiestar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120307647#Comment_120307647

Got it done in Mullingar for 150E, no respray was needed and looks great.

veryangryman

Still no planned end date for the cycle bridge.

Must be great to work to an open ended deadline

The Monksland Innovation hub or Monksland Life Sciences Hub (name changes a lot) is about to go to construction. It will involve renovating the empty unit next to CT Electric

https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2023/04/13/contracts-signed-for-monksland-innovation-hub/

Plans for it are located at the page below for anyone curious, sorry, won't let me direct link to the file but its in Appendix A, half way down the page

https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_docs.asp?PID=166191&LID=186353&AllowPrint=1

What do ye reckon?

https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2023/04/20/athlone-shows-how-we-are-on-the-way-to-transforming-transport/

IMHO the new buses are very welcome, love them. Though I would add that a service that only runs until 8pm is just plain stupid in this day and age.

As for cycling, the new bridge will be a nice addition when it opens and the greenway is great too. All that being said, cycling anywhere else in Athlone is not for the faint of heart. A massive amount of work still needs to be done in terms of a network of protected bike lanes.

Lewis_Benson

Look up Cyril Jinx for gardening work, top man.

veryangryman

"a critical link for walking and cycling". Cmon now... Even when the rest of the Greenway is ready, will the 2 minutes saved from taking the bridge 50m from the old one really be so criticical

FlicFlak

I see Rituals cosmetics shop is coming to Athlone, the wife is delighted!!!

Im still waiting for wines direct!

flazio

Well boards has been "whines direct" for years 😋

veryangryman

I was reading how ericssons lease of that building expires in 2027.

Could one see then renewing it in this world of remote and occasional hybrid?

One recent walk around the building showed that outside of contractors from Indian companies, the building is pretty sparsely occupied. Hardly getting value for money.

rn

The downturn in tech will change that. Return to office is slowly creeping in everywhere. By 2027 things will be different i think. I expect they'll remain there but look for reduced rent or sub let it to other non competitors.

The land lord would do well to find alternative tenants. That Ericsson building is fairly old for the most part, (built in the 70s) and while it can be changed and upgraded the fact is most similar tenants prefer new, green field buildings. The high rise towers on Galway docks will hoover up any IDA investment for the west.

veryangryman

Assuming we don't solve the housing problems in Dublin and other cities, the long commute from borderline affordable areas to an expensive office where you give less output due to exhaustion and bad bus or train wifi during the commute will make it a hard sell for companies to drag one back to the office.

This will have a knock on effect on Ericssons attractiveness as an employer with the WFH perk being a major pull factor to other companies. Dublin wages from your flat in Achill.

Really can't see them ever pushing everyone to come back. Too much friction if it happens. That said, the place has alot of lifers who don't chance what's out there.

rn

The Dublin companies are leading the return. And you're going to see more and more in office days. I think we won't go back to 40 hours in the office every week. But places, especially the ones paying top salaries in the sector are already pushing/pulling their employees in 2-3 days per week.

It'll be a level playing field for Ericsson I think in terms of remote work.