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Greenways [greenway map of Ireland in post 1]

dowlingm

So there's been quite a bit of discussion of greenways on threads like Western Rail Corridor (Train & Rail Systems) and I was thinking it might be useful to have a thread which pulls together both technical discussion (for example how greenways can co-exist with adjacent roadways or railways) and news (expansions of existing greenways / announcements of new ones)

According to the Connaught Tribune there are moves on getting on Galway-Clifden along the old rail line alignment. Is there anything else starting to reach firm proposals as opposed to discussion?

MOD EDIT: Fantastic Greenway map of Ireland by riddlinrussell here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1HAHB3jpXV7qgrTHgopH4Zl7-ItDHGEPv&ll=53.4320326010536%2C-8.939188105408448&z=7

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blueballfc

Lastest update from fingal,

https://fingalcoco.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/344527/start_time/2721000

and here
https://www.facebook.com/royalcanalgreenway/?hc_ref=ART5jjAiKk99rqa52gSwHKEgs8krUXxFJmFYmfo7WMOcRuPp5F0sM4r0vpBAQWEMGRk&fref=nf

funnyname

I found this on the Clare CoCo site in their 2018 budget report. However the section from the town centre to Lees road is just on road markings where there actually isn't enough room for bikes and cars to coexist safely.

West Clare Railway Greenway Construction work is completed on the 3.5km section from Ennis Town Centre to Lees Road Sports and Amenity Park and along a section of similar length between Ennistymon and Lahinch.

Property owners have been written to and an initial consultation has taken place with the IFA to advise of intentions to carry out initial survey work and landowner liaison along the entire route which ultimately is likely to link Ennis with Clare County Council Page 82 Milltown Malbay (via Lahinch).

One to one consultation has been ongoing with potentially impacted property owners and at this stage approximately 25% have been engaged with.

The process of identification of the most appropriate route and associated deliberations with land owners will, by its nature, be time consuming and will be followed by the preparation of a briefing document by early 2018

Corca Baiscinn

funnyname wrote: »

I found this on the Clare CoCo site in their 2018 budget report. However the section from the town centre to Lees road is just on road markings where there actually isn't enough room for bikes and cars to coexist safely.

It may be that a Greenway starts in a town but I don't think it should be called a Greenway at that point unless it is segregated from traffic or there has at least been traffic calming and lower speed limits Westport issegregated as far as I recall. Dont think Waterford is at present but didnt do that section. Started Athlone Mullingar at the Moate Heritage Park so again don't know re Athlone. Start of Blueway at Acres Lake in Drumshanbo is definitely segregated. They're planning to extend it to Drumshanbo so hope that's with segregation.

Wonder if there's a recognised definition or seeing as Greenway is such a buzz word at the minute are councils able to slap a bit on paint on a road and lo and behold they have a Greenway

whyulittle

The Greenway in Athlone is fully segregated, it starts as such at a level crossing.

buffalo

I don't know if it's with the Greenway in mind, but one of the kissing gates at Royal Canal Park was removed at some point yesterday.

It was slightly tighter than most, which meant to get a standard bike through you had to make sure to go to the very corner, and turn the handlebars a bit too. A minor inconvenience, but still a very pleasant surprise this morning to cycle through the space it used to occupy. I must have done the same in the dark last night and never copped it!

mr spuckler

whyulittle wrote: »

The Greenway in Athlone is fully segregated, it starts as such at a level crossing.

yep, maybe 1 - 1.5km from the town center. the plan in time is to bring it right through the town center but for now it's outside of it.

buffalo wrote: »

I don't know if it's with the Greenway in mind, but one of the kissing gates at Royal Canal Park was removed at some point yesterday.

It was slightly tighter than most, which meant to get a standard bike through you had to make sure to go to the very corner, and turn the handlebars a bit too. A minor inconvenience, but still a very pleasant surprise this morning to cycle through the space it used to occupy. I must have done the same in the dark last night and never copped it!

that sounds very tight - they should be wide enough to get a bike trailer through, or at the very least a wheelchair.

marno21

Discussion on the benefits of the Kerry Rail Corridor North Kerry railway line greenway from Radio Kerry during the week

http://www.radiokerry.ie/north-kerry-west-limerick-trail-potential-change-lives-april-13th-2018/

medoc

A 4km section of greenway through Tullamore on the canal was just opened. It will be great when it links west as far as Lough Boora Parklands and into the 30km of bike trails in the park. Hopefully planning and funding goes through for the section east towards Edenderry from Tullamore soon too.

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/307508/council-plan-to-connect-offaly-to-the-west-with-canal-greenways.html

Corca Baiscinn

medoc wrote: »

A 4km section of greenway through Tullamore on the canal was just opened. It will be great when it links west as far as Lough Boora Parklands and into the 30km of bike trails in the park. Hopefully planning and funding goes through for the section east towards Edenderry from Tullamore soon too.

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/307508/council-plan-to-connect-offaly-to-the-west-with-canal-greenways.html

Is Tullamore in Hidden Heartlands or Ancient East? If the former, funding might come through as they are talking about marketing to people interested in outdoor activities like walking, cycling and water sports. Lough Boora is very peaceful. Great to see another albeit small section of Grand Canal done

medoc

Corca Baiscinn wrote: »

Is Tullamore in Hidden Heartlands or Ancient East? If the former, funding might come through as they are talking about marketing to people interested in outdoor activities like walking, cycling and water sports. Lough Boora is very peaceful. Great to see another albeit small section of Grand Canal done

Tullamore is Ancient East. As far as I know the funding and planning permission is in place for the section from Tullamore to Lough Boora Parklands and Permission and funding is been looked for for Tullamore to Edenderry currently. And will be looked for to go from Lough Boora to Shannon Harbour.

Markcheese

Is there an expectation of what a greenaway should be / has to be?
Should some be walking hiking paths? Or suitable for buggies and wheelchairs..., or yes to bikes but not trailers?
Should there be different names or grades for tracks?

Corca Baiscinn

Markcheese wrote: »

Is there an expectation of what a greenaway should be / has to be?
Should some be walking hiking paths? Or suitable for buggies and wheelchairs..., or yes to bikes but not trailers?
Should there be different names or grades for tracks?

Good questions but afraid don't know definite answers. As far as I do know Irish Greenways are generally shared walking/cycling. They certainly should be suitable for buggies and wheelchairs and yes trailers. This of course has implications for width, surface and design of gates. Some of the newer ones are much better than earlier designs. I gather that sometimes a gate has the good intention of keeping motorbikes or quad bikes out but of course has the effect of keeping out would-be legitimate users too. not practical to expect people to take off a trailer or lift a bike over a gate.

Re surface, I think it partly depends on the terrain the greenway traverses. one through a wood will be different from one along a railway lin nd a river may be different again.. There has been controversy over Waterways Ireland's plans for the Barrow and it looks as if it will remain a grassy surface suitable for hybrids but not the other types you mention.

Like yourself would be glad of further info from anyone better informed. All I know is I have cycled on variously surfaced and widths of Greenways in Ireland and Europe. As far as I recall all were shared with pedestrians too. I remember meeting a few recumbent bikes on them in Germany.

DTTAS Greenway Strategy should be due out shortly, wonder if it will say anything re design.

riddlinrussell

medoc wrote: »

A 4km section of greenway through Tullamore on the canal was just opened. It will be great when it links west as far as Lough Boora Parklands and into the 30km of bike trails in the park. Hopefully planning and funding goes through for the section east towards Edenderry from Tullamore soon too.

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/307508/council-plan-to-connect-offaly-to-the-west-with-canal-greenways.html

Could you tell me if the 4km is the bit going into Tullamore from Srah or out towards Boora from Tullamore?

medoc

riddlinrussell wrote: »

Could you tell me if the 4km is the bit going into Tullamore from Srah or out towards Boora from Tullamore?

From Tullamore town Harbour out past Srah Castle towards the Shannon. But no where near as far as the Offaly Way link to Lough Boora Parklands. It’s as far as Ballycowan bridge.

riddlinrussell

medoc wrote: »

From Tullamore town Harbour out past Srah Castle towards the Shannon. But no where near as far as the Offaly Way link to Lough Boora Parklands. It’s as far as Ballycowan bridge.

Thanks very much for that!, I've added it to the map along with Lough Boora loops.

Also spotted this article, the continuation of the Carlingford - Omeath 'Great Eastern Greenway' into Newry will finally open in May.

whyulittle

Not a lot of detail, but...

Plans for a bridge will connect the Dublin/Galway greenway in Athlone have been given a major boost.

The Minister has appointed Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to complete the Dublin to Galway greenway with the new bridge in Athlone which is the vital component to connect the east and west of the country .

The project was halted in 2015 due to funding issues but will now restart and eventually link Galway to Moscow through a network of long distance cycleways across Europe called the Eurovelo.

http://www.shannonside.ie/news/local/west-meath/handover-dublin-galway-greenway-completion-tii-hailed-major-boost-athlone/

Sam Russell

How much of the Galway to Athlone greenway exists at the moment?

mr spuckler

Sam Russell wrote: »

How much of the Galway to Athlone greenway exists at the moment?

I was trying to figure out if this was a rhetorical question!

so I'm going with the assumption that it's not

there is no greenway in place at the moment west of Athlone - it's far more challenging than the route from Dublin to Athlone in that they're not trying to follow an existing railway / canal etc. it seems that the councils went quite heavy handed in their approach to begin with too and tried to force a solution on landowners without proper consultation or engagement. that was met with a predictable and understandable response and it has stalled since.

Zubeneschamali

mr spuckler wrote: »

there is no greenway in place at the moment west of Athlone

The route will go south to Shannonbridge, and then follow the old canal up to Ballinalsloe. i am surprised to see that Google Streetmaps goes some way down the canal route.

marno21

Kerry County Council to start planning on Tralee-Fenit and Limerick Border-Listowel greenways in June

They have also requested a pre planning meeting with An Bord Pleanala for the South Kerry Greenway

http://www.radiokerry.ie/hopes-council-will-start-planning-process-two-kerry-greenways-june/

[Deleted User]

Last I heard, it was going to make use of state lands (vigs, coillte forests) as much as possible, be a lot more indirect as it would aim to hit more archaeological, historical and cultural sites rather than just a direct route to towns and villages.

It was originally going to go southwards towards Loughrea and make its way back up to Galway through Clarinbridge, Oranmore but now looks like the tail end of it will be taking a more central route, with it going from Athenry, Oranmore, Galway

Granted nothing has been released publicly and the above is based on a report from a year ago so it's subject to change

Sam Russell

mr spuckler wrote: »

I was trying to figure out if this was a rhetorical question!

so I'm going with the assumption that it's not

there is no greenway in place at the moment west of Athlone - it's far more challenging than the route from Dublin to Athlone in that they're not trying to follow an existing railway / canal etc. it seems that the councils went quite heavy handed in their approach to begin with too and tried to force a solution on landowners without proper consultation or engagement. that was met with a predictable and understandable response and it has stalled since.

No it was a genuine question and thanks for answering. It was the comment in the cited article that referred to the (non-existing) greenway would connect Galway to Moscow that caught my attention.

I'd hate all those Russian cyclists ending up in Athlone looking for the greenway to Galway.

mr spuckler

Sam Russell wrote: »

No it was a genuine question and thanks for answering. It was the comment in the cited article that referred to the (non-existing) greenway would connect Galway to Moscow that caught my attention.

I'd hate all those Russian cyclists ending up in Athlone looking for the greenway to Galway.

it's amazing how complicated it seems to get when it moves away from the likes of the canals or railways.

some light background reading if interested.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/permission-granted-for-new-bridge-across-shannon-in-athlone-1.3283609

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/forestry-enviro/anger-at-dublingalway-greenway-being-railroaded-through-farmers-land-35194679.html

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/initial-approach-to-athlone-galway-greenway-was-sub-optimal-ross-265195

http://connachttribune.ie/east-west-greenway-plan-back-track-698/

buffalo

mr spuckler wrote: »

https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/forestry-enviro/anger-at-dublingalway-greenway-being-railroaded-through-farmers-land-35194679.html

http://connachttribune.ie/east-west-greenway-plan-back-track-698/

There's something amusing about a cycleway being railroaded through anything, or being on track.

serfboard

marno21 wrote: »

Kerry County Council to start planning on Tralee-Fenit and Limerick Border-Listowel greenways in June

While this is great to hear there is also another potential route on the horizon - the completion of the North Kerry Greenway by Greenwaying the largely undisturbed route from Listowel->Tralee via Lixnaw and Abbeydorney.

You'd then have a Greenway all the way from Rathkeale to Fenit - quote a considerable distance.

On a more general point - is is just my impression, or do others think as well that the more Greenways that are built, the quicker we seem to be to building the next ones? IMO, once people see how great they are, they start asking for them in their areas too.

serfboard wrote: »

On a more general point - is is just my impression, or do others think as well that the more Greenways that are built, the quicker we seem to be to building the next ones? IMO, once people see how great they are, they start asking for them in their areas too.

Yes, you saw the same happening once we started getting good at building motorways and the same with Luas. I'm hoping we see the same with Metro.

marno21

bk wrote: »

Yes, you saw the same happening once we started getting good at building motorways and the same with Luas. I'm hoping we see the same with Metro.

That's ireland for you. Continuous objections and stumbling blocks but once we get going we get going.

Watch the same with the upgrades to the N56 and N86 in the tourist areas. When people see what 3/4km of a good road looks like they are mad for the whole lot to be done

CatInABox

serfboard wrote: »

On a more general point - is is just my impression, or do others think as well that the more Greenways that are built, the quicker we seem to be to building the next ones? IMO, once people see how great they are, they start asking for them in their areas too.

The amount of good press that the Waterford greenway generated recently if phenomenal, the Irish Times had several large articles on the benefits that it has brought to the area, and the Irish Times has a massive grudge against infrastructure spending.

[Deleted User]

TII to take over the building of the Galway to Dublin greenway

http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/roundup/articles/2018/04/25/4155166-tii-to-advance-the-greenway-project/

Zubeneschamali

Deleted User wrote: »

TII to take over the building of the Galway to Dublin greenway

TII are apparently Transport Infrastructure Ireland, a body i had never heard of before, which turns out to be what you get when the NRA eats the RPA.