Royal Canal Greenway

Flinty997

Nice to have another exit if that's the case.

Currently feels a bit like a trench run....

VonLuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466702#Comment_120466702

I can never seem to find the latest information for any public infrastructure projects, so that link is appreciated!

I hope they're not fully closing off access under the bridges as part of the scheme. At the moment you can avoid crossing trafficked roads in a number of locations by sticking to the canal level. I know it's a bit of a tight squeeze and not suitable for two bikes at the same time, but hopefully they retain that option.

getoutadodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120467892#Comment_120467892

skangers always use those choke points to hang out in and scope targets. I'm amazed at the number of tourists types I see wandering around there oblivious to the danger.

raheny red

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120466702#Comment_120466702

You've never noticed that gate because it's right in front of the most ridiculous part of the whole greenway. If you're not paying attention, you're going straight into the canal. :-)

Flinty997

Bit pointless as a post match exit though. Looks more like maintenance access. No idea though. Not a section I hang around in, any time I've been through it.

jeffk

Colour me shocked something isn't finishing on time in Ireland

I went from st moctas old school and apart from some gravel at barberstown, it's as bad as ever with a few trees etc hacked down (and can see a stream now)

Still wouldn't attempt it on anything but a MTB

Seth Brundle

^^^ is that photo from Confey's Cope Bridge?

jeffk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120486844#Comment_120486844

Yeah just beside the train station

Horrible looking path, wish they went with logs/wood as border then bark or that as the path surface

jeffk

Found this

Seth Brundle

I think the Confey to Louisa Bridge section of the project was to open this month but I've heard (but not read) that there has been a slight delay.

Flinty997

Not sure if previously posted. Might be of interest.

https://irishcycle.com/2023/04/13/royal-canal-greenway-phase-4-delay-blamed-on-need-to-include-esb-high-voltage-lines/

daymobrew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120487045#Comment_120487045

A rough path would make the greenway unusable to some people e.g wheelchair users and those with other mobility limitations.

Last summer I cycled from Mullingar to Coolmine. The smooth tarmac on the early parts was very nice and made for a quiet journey. The gravel surface (like on the right, just inside the fence) was noisy and tiring.

The mess after Maynooth was bone shaking and quad burning. Even walkers would do well not to twist an ankle. I was on a hybrid with 28mm tyres.

Polar101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120488263#Comment_120488263

It doesn't look very close to being finished at the moment, the path "base" and "edges" (whatever you call those) seem to be more or less done, but the actual path is still missing. Maybe they needed to wait for warmer/drier weather.

jeffk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120489524#Comment_120489524

I like A path, but I don't want a concrete path stuck in the middle of natural environment to stick out like a soar thumb.

I know it's a sensitive subject, but you can't really think people in wheelchairs etc can be accommodated on a path like this, different in a park or that where you can park, do a loop and then get into a car and go.

The general idea seems to be walk/run/cycle to it and do the reverse (sure Ive a 3km cycle before I even get onto the path) so how would people with mobility issues get too and then use it, there is little or no parking (most would be in small train stations with paid parking)

Flinty997

I assume those with a mobility pass aren't paying parking. There are also electric mobility devices these days.

Maybe you'd prefer an obstacle course and fitness test to make access to amenities more "EX"clusive.

: )

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120491347#Comment_120491347

I like A path, but I don't want a concrete path stuck in the middle of natural environment to stick out like a soar thumb.

It's not a natural environment - it is completely man-made.

I know it's a sensitive subject, but you can't really think people in wheelchairs etc can be accommodated on a path like this, different in a park or that where you can park, do a loop and then get into a car and go.

Why can one not expect people in wheelchairs be accommodated?

To be fair, that is a fairly daft statement to make and is a good example as to why facilities for people with disabilities are so crap in this country.

The general idea seems to be walk/run/cycle to it and do the reverse (sure Ive a 3km cycle before I even get onto the path) so how would people with mobility issues get too and then use it, there is little or no parking (most would be in small train stations with paid parking)

That is your perception but not everybodies. Plus most entrances onto the canal have somewhere to stick a car. However, the ections currently under discussion are all in urban areas and parallel to a train line.

jeffk

Knew this would be the response I'd get and why I was half tempted to not even bother replying

Funny enough not long back from a trip too Waterford, visited the greenway which is the dream people on here have and guess what, I didn't see anyone on it (3 different parts)

Went on the unpaved dangerous canal yesterday, seen runners, dog walkers etc

Fighting Tao

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120491973#Comment_120491973

I just looked out the window and there is no one driving on the road. Let’s dig it up and give it back to nature.

Your stance makes no sense at all. We should remove all roads and footpaths everywhere as they are not natural.

jeffk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120492017#Comment_120492017

No I never said that

There's better surfaces you can have then slapping a concrete path with thick concrete barriers at the side (as I've said doesn't seem to get the people out to use it in Waterford)

Go up the Wicklow mountains and see the wooden decking walkway or would people rather than be changed into a concrete path as well?

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120491973#Comment_120491973

Well you were on it so that's one person - or are you anal enough to go to the greenway and check it three times to see if it was being used?

As for your "survey", it is obviously BS because the Waterford Greenway has been a massive tourism success as acknowledged by people living and working down there.

I would also question your methodology for comparing the greenway against the Royal canal - one is in a tourist location during off-season and the other is in an urban area - chalk and cheese!

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120492062#Comment_120492062

Again, the Royal canal will be a tourism amenity west of Maynooth but closer to Dublin,m it will also be a trasport corridor for people commuting into the city.

The Grand canal is highly succesful, has plenty of nature along it and yet has a concrete path. The "concrete barriers" are there to prevent subsidence of the pathway.

Again comparing it to a tourist walkway in the Wicklow mountains is pretty stupid.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120492062#Comment_120492062

Do you reckon people should also have to "...The general idea seems to be walk/run/cycle to it ...." the wicklow mountains? Indeed is that how you got there?

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120492113#Comment_120492113

Saying people use it for transport, completely scrambles some people brains.

The idea being I might use it to go into town 8am on a monday. But also a walk in the evening or at the weekend seems to be incomprehensible to some.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120491554#Comment_120491554

actually, the irony is that the controversial section, the deep sinking, is by far the most 'destructive' (certainly during construction) of the length of the canal, as it had to be dynamited out to a depth seen nowhere else on the canal (AFAIK)

donaghs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120492199#Comment_120492199

City parks are man made too, but that doesn't mean to can't have parts of them which resemble "wild" nature.

I see a dichotomy here. There is an advantage to the paved surface for bikes, wheelchairs, and easier walking in winter etc. I will take advantage of this when it opens on my bike. Some people will commute on it, e.g. to Leixlip, Maynooth, Blanch, or the Dublin docklands.

There's also something being lost. The "natural" surface on a long-distance trail. I recall there was sufficient public opposition to stop paving the Barrow towpath a few years ago.

Grass or tarmac? The towpath debate – The Irish Times

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120489524#Comment_120489524

I think walkers are fine. There's loads of them using it as it is for years. If twisting an ankle on a rough surface was such a danger, no-one would go hill walking, or even stray off the paths in the Phoenix Park. You could put in a paved path up to the Sugarloaf, perhaps with a stairlift for the final ascent!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120488375#Comment_120488375

From Ashtown to Phibsboro has a decent paved surface already, its fine for cycling. I guess the money has to be spent getting it up to the "standard". It could be better spent on new greenways elsewhere. e.g. the Dodder or the Tolka.

--

So no date for opening the Confey to Louisa bridge section? Its unfortunate for it to be closed off for so long. I'm not looking forward to sections from Confey to Castleknock station getting closed for that long.

Flinty997

If you have a " long-distance trail" with not a lot of footfall then a trail surface might suffice.

But if this is opened up in a urban area. It will be very busy.

magicbastarder

people are complaining about ruining the natural look of the canal with a greenway, and are suggesting a greenway on the tolka instead?

i'm confused. a greenway should be able to take foot traffic, bikes, buggies. you don't see many people going offroad with buggies in the phoenix park.

getoutadodge

Jeez the whinging is off the charts. I just came back from a DCC public "consultation" about putting a few trees in the area. Hardly radical stuff yet the "shure its grand the way it is ...and it'll attract the wrong types...the dawgs are pissing ...and besides that whattabout X and Y..etc " was rampant. I'm beginning to see what DCC are up against on the Royal Canal upgrade. Must be exasperating.

jeffk

How about one thing we could agree on?

The toll collectors cottage should be turned into a coffee shop/vending machine and have a tool stand with a pump etc in it

https://urbanculture.fotonique.com/the-toll-collectors-house-at-the-ryewater-aqueduct-on-the-royal-canal/

Seth Brundle

^^^ agreed