Access to the countryside is a thorny issue and one that isn't going to change any time soon. We have plenty of state owned land in the form of former rail alignments which would be ideal for greenways but people who don't even own them refuse to allow them to be used. We need to pick the low hanging fruit before reaching higher up.
When I visit my relatives in England we can set off in any direction across the fields. It’s a huge boost to the quality of life. One really feels that the countryside is a common heritage to be enjoyed by everybody. The state gives landowners certain rights but they are not feudal lords. In Ireland of all places, we should agree with that.
https://www.tii.ie/en/news/press-releases/12th-lock-to-hazelhatch-greenway-opens-in-south-dublin/
Missed this, though apparently there's a non standard kissing gate not in the approved plans that blocks wheelchair access
They’ll have a coastal path all the way around their much larger island while we are still arguing about starting ours. And there’s no need for us to be decades or centuries behind them if we were willing to stand up to the vested interests.
Isn’t that something we could change? We had far more dramatic land reform than that in the 19’th and 20’th centuries. All we need this time is a little tweaking of the law in favour of the landless majority. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
The countries in Britain have a much stronger concept of long-standing public rights of way being protected by law; here in Ireland (both jurisdictions), landowners will win most times that a way gets challenged.
Oh thank you! I like to go on long walks in England when I can. I do like their huge network of public rights of way (l've even left my walking gear with a relative in England because I it's so much easier there as I don't drive).
It is a great shame. The public sector does not inspire any hope in getting innovative ideas completed.
considering the Bray Cliff Walk has been closed now for 4 years with no sign of it reopening, I'm gonna say "no"
Could Ireland ever do this, a 2,700 mile coastal pathway around England has been opened.
https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/england-coast-path/
"The King Charles III England Coast Path National Trail will be the longest managed coastal path in the world. It will go all the way around the coast of England and will be around 2,700 miles long when it is complete. That is some path, and it doesn’t end there, in many areas you also have the right to explore the beaches and coastal margin alongside the path."
Someone mentioned to me that there is a new sign along the Royal Canal Greenway at Ashtown saying that it will be closed for 3 months for upgrade works. Is this scheme finally going ahead?
Lehenaghmore Road Improvement Scheme, south side Cork City and some works on the old Bandon/Kinsale railway line.
The ultimate plan is for this city greenway to connect to the county planned Kinsale greenway!
This is looking east back to Forge Hill/Kinsale Rroundabout direction. Clearance works and concrete foundation being built in the foreground for the new pedestrian bridge. There will be an off ramp down to the railway line also. But I presume this will be closed until the Viaduct Greenway will actually be built.
My most recent query with officials: Viaduct Greenway will start when the road works are all completed, which is Q1 2027. I presume more funding delays, so the greenway MIGHT start construction Q1 2029, then be opened Q4 2030. This is a very ambitious timeline though…..which is mad when you think about it!!!
Regarding the Limerick to Scarrif Greenway, would it be better to just use the Shannon Blueway - UL to Montpelier route south of O'Briensbridge (I'm assuming it's less controversial as it's along the river)? After O'Briensbridge it would obviously have to follow the Scarrif route but even if it got as far as Killaloe it would be great. That would be the main destination for leisure cyclists setting out from Limerick - it's a nice village and cyclable there and back in a day.
I fully agree. Both rural and urban are needed. I just feel sometimes If we are serious about modal shift, getting cars off the road, inspiring a younger generation, the spend should be on urban first and then work outwards to rural areas. The canals or differ greenway look good, won’t impact traffic and locals too much. Mostly “Offline”
I know I’m a broken record and cork specific but the best example for me is to connect the city to the viaduct first along a big urban population and then work down to kinsale. I don’t see the point in building a rural greenway in total isolation
south Kerry is a great example, the general area needs something. Depopulation is terrible for them. Yet a few local farmers couldn’t see the options for the future, only their own small narrow view point. Shameful from them really. Same in ballinhassig, same in scarriff etc
@hans aus dtschl Yes, absolutely, modal shift is more likely to be achieved by urban greenways. However, a just transition is part of any modern environmental movement, and that means supporting rural communities as well. The South Kerry Greenway is a striking example. It was held up for years and sent all the way to the Supreme Court by farmers and landowners along its route, but talk to anyone else in South Kerry - which is suffering from depopulation and the narrowing of opportunities for those who stay - and they are all just waiting for the greenway to arrive with all the tourists in tow.
@KrisW1001 Yes, absolutely, they should and must connect. You are right about long-distance commutes - I think when we hook up safe cycle networks from the city to the countryside we will be very surprised by the number of rural commuters.
True but I think we can still see where they're coming from: the urban ones will probably get more "day to day" trips onto bikes, so more modal shift. But I agree we need both.
And they should connect. Cycle tourists would also like to spend a night or two in a city; longer-distance commuters could also use rural greenways as part of a commute - electrically-assisted bikes make commute distances of up to 20 km each way a viable proposition.
Urban and rural greenways serve different purposes to my mind. Urban routes are more for day-to-day use by locals, commuting, tackling congestion, promoting active travel, and making the city a more pleasant place to live. Rural greenways are less likely to be used by commuters but draw far more tourists (and locals), supporting tourism and hospitality services in rural Ireland and smaller towns.
Both are beneficial, both are necessary, both should be built.
Also farmers should not whip up a local frenzy by telling blatant lies and scare mongering. Greenways cause crime, criminals use greenways to rob houses (I KID you not!) Farmers should see the opportunities a greenway could bring for the local area. Alas…….
I posted about this before, should we invest more in urban type areas/greenways and then work outwards towards rural areas. I think there would be a better impact with urban investment, local population, car usage reduction etc
Farmers are absolutely entitled to fume, and object, and of course greenways should be designed to minimise farm severance. However, severance cannot always be avoided, and farmers cannot be given or led to expect a veto.
In fairness - farmers are entitled to fume , but only really the ones affected , and if the impact on them can be lessened that's a good thing..
I thought the route of that was to be on publicly owned lands (the article mentions Waterways Ireland mentions expected to lodge a planning application)? I think there is also an old rail alignment in the area?
From memory, this Greenway was talked about as being an easy one to deliver 10 years ago.
Greenways are never plain sailing. Farmers don’t want their farms to change. The British culture wars are also arriving here where anything with the word “green” in it is reflexively opposed by a chunk of the population. If they can’t drive their car on it, it is bad, end of story.
Greenways are roads (just car-free), and should be planned and built the same way as any other roads. Normal planning process, try to avoid splitting up properties but accepting that some change is inevitable, people have the opportunity to object, appeal etc, and then after permission is granted move straight on to CPOs for those who have not already agreed to sell. Just like any other road.
Consensus and universal support is impossible, there will always be someone unhappy. But that is no reason not to go ahead
https://www.clareecho.ie/there-will-be-uproar-farmers-fume-over-preferred-route-for-limerick-to-scariff-greenway/
Pay walled unfortunately but seems like it won't be plain sailing
No I just take an interest, same as you. Over time you just build up the history of various proposals. If you engage with the elected representatives they'll often give you the current status of projects. If you engage with the local authority technical teams they can also often be very generous with information too, explaining how they know designs aren't perfect but that they're hemmed in by various technical or political considerations.
Pathfinder was actually 35 schemes rather than 25, as below.
1. CycleConnects
2. Inter-Urban Demonstrator (National Link Cork-Waterford)
3. Smarter Travel Award/Mark
4. Wexford Cycle Network
5. Longford Cycle Network
6. Rural Cycleway Rapid Deployment – Navan to Trim
7. Dundalk Regional Road Cycleway
8. Mullingar Cycle Corridor with links to Dublin-Galway Greenway
9. Wicklow Active Travel Links
10. Five Cities Demonstrator: Waterford Cycle backbone
11. Five Cities Demonstrator: East Cork Sustainability Corridor
12. Moyross Train Station
13. Waterford North Quays
14. Athlone Bus Service Electrification
15. Dingle Integrated Community-Based Sustainable Mobility for Rural Ireland
16. Five Cities Demonstrator: Galway Cross-City Link
17. Five Cities Demonstrator: Dublin Active Travel City
18. Letterkenny – Reallocation of Road Space for Walking and Cycling
19. Lismore Park, Waterford – Improving permeability in a city-centre residential area
20. Clonmel 10 min town
21. Naas Mobility Network Integration
22. Killarney - 10 min town
23. Safe Routes to Schools Programme - Acceleration
24. Rathmullan Rd & Marley’s Lane, Drogheda
25. Hanover to Tyndall AT Route to TU
26. Five Cities Demonstrator: Limerick City university connectivity
27. Smart and Sustainable Mobility Training Workshops
28. “The First and Last Green Mile”: Pilot to integrate local link service, hackney and community e-bike scheme
29. Research and pilot to trial carpooling among large employers
30. Sligo Shared eBike Scheme – expansion
31. Workplace Mobility Hubs – Four Dublin Local Authorities
32. Last Mile Delivery
33. Active Travel Corridor – Carraroe, Sligo Town, Atlantic Technological University Sligo Campus
34. Athlone Cycle Corridor, linking TU with Centre
35. BusIt2School – Working with schools and community to encourage use of town bus services instead of cars
Thank you so much for the detail and explanation.
I enjoy reading ur posts and explanations. You are a fountain of knowledge. Do you work in this field?
Do you have an actual list of Pathfinder projects?
It really is an awful era, traffic has never been as bad all over Ireland, we are on track to miss emission cuts. Yet the govt are more roads focused, not public transport and not AT focussed. I just don't get it. Obviously a political thing, unhappy motorists = a risk in the polls. Will we ever learn as a society I wonder?
Very frustrating, it shouldn't be one or the other. New roads and road upgrades are badly needed both to ease congestion and to facilitate growth of the urban area. But without the sustainable travel network habits wont change.
I wouldn't cycle into town from Glanmire with the current infrastructure.
Yes I fully agree and specifically tend to approach it from the "help to get ME out of your way while you drive" angle. It is helpful that I often drive so it's not a theoretical situation and it feels more effective than saying "SOMEONE" will get out of your way.
Many people switch from being negative to being positive about sustainable transport when it's reframed as "right now I'm stuck using my car and I'm blocking you on the road" with the constant added reminder that "you can always drive in future too".
Modal shift is obviously not possible without people changing and currently the biggest issue in the Cork area is still lack of choice. Right now since the option isn't even available, no amount of "push" is going to get people out of their cars, it'll just infuriate them.
There's no point appealing to people who already are willing to cycle or get mass transit. They're already "the converted" and they just need the viable options.
So TLDR, talk to your family, your friends, your political representatives etc and keep saying "I want to be out of the way of important hard-pressed motorists like you, think of how much MONEY you're wasting just sat there stuck behind people like me, it seems really unfair that you can't reach your true potential, I wish they could get me out of my car" blah blah blah.
Yes, sustainable transport is very high on voter’s lists, but they tend to express their dissatisfaction in terms of car traffic being bad, which is mistakenly interpreted as a desire for more road lanes, rather than fewer cars on the road. If someone is wedded to their car for emotional reasons, sustainable transport is opposed when it’s presented as “you can take the bus or go by bike”, but if it’s reframed as “a lot of the other drivers on the road would prefer to take the bus or go by bike”, you can even get the Clarkson brigade on side.
I fully agree that Glanmire to City should be a no-brainer btw. But take comfort in the progress of some recent really transformative local Glanmire sustainable works, which I believe will increase local walking and cycling dramatically. And it looks like Blarney's next on the list for the same "transform the suburb" effort.
And in terms of a Glanmire to City route, probably the best thing you can do right now is keep highlighting it to your local Councillors and TD's, and more importantly your friends and family, to create local "common agreement" and support. The City Council wants to progress it, they're not getting funding. Everything is politcs at the end of the day.
I keep saying this but the current PfG does not prioritise sustainable transport because they don't perceive it to be an election winner (or loser). It's "housing" and "economy" etc as priorities. But I believe sustainable travel really is high on voters list, that it's a "top-5" issue, and that the current government are actually vulnerable on it.
