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Dublin Galway Greenway is the centrepiece of the National Greenway Strategy

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At the launch of the highly anticipated greenway strategy last week Minister Shane Ross announced €53m funding for Greenways and highlighted his renewed focus on completing the Dublin Galway Greenway. Dublin to Galway greenway is the centrepiece of the Government’s National Greenway Strategy. (Sorry for repost - better picture) https://t.co/am2W5uJhnR pic.twitter.com/vd6TLoeXYz — dublingalwaygreenway (@dublingalwaygw) July 20, 2018 The new greenway strategy sets out to defined what are strategic, national and regional greenways. Greenways of over 100km in length will be of national strategic importance and will be given priority in funding. The Dublin Galway greenway is being highlighted as of strategic importance and Ross said that “It is certainly our ambition that there will be at least one greenway that is coast to coast,” and later explained that tourism research indicted the need for such a project and stating his preference for a Dublin to Galway route. The minister also

TII to take the lead in completing the Dublin Galway Greenway

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It was announced this week , that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) will be handed the lead role in delivering the remaining sections of the Dublin Galway Greenway. It is hoped the TII's expertise in delivering national infrastructure projects and their ability to negotiate with landowners will help break the current empass. Furthermore, the dept of Transport and Tourism will soon release it's national greenway strategy which is likely to address how best farmers and landowners can be adequately consulted with and compensated for route options. Plans for the western end of the coast to coast greenway were halted in 2015 as landowners in West Galway strongly opposed the routing of the route through their land holdings. The then minister of transport, Paschal Donohoe, decided to pause the project and direct the allocated funding to the eastern end of the project. Kildare, Meath councils were allocated funds to complete their section of the Royal Canal Greenway which as

ROYAL CANAL GREENWAY (DUBLIN CITY END) – PROGRESS REPORT

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The following update is thanks to Cllr. Ray McAdam on his website . "Since my last update on the delivery of a dedicated cycle and pedestrian route along the Royal Canal, a number of issues have arisen which have delayed construction work on the project to begin. Dublin City Council has added the upgrade of a road junction to the Phase II programme of works. The initial phase of the tendering process has now been completed with Council officials expecting the second stage to start in November. All going to plan, it is anticipated that construction can begin on March 29th 2018. In terms of Phase III of the project, between the North Strand Road and the Phibsborough Road, the Council has had to review the documentation surrounding the cost of the project, meaning that tender documents should now be issued in December 2017. It is anticipated that the Contractor will be on site before the end of April 2018. The project requires certain approvals from Waterways Ireland. We hav

Public Consultation on the future of greenways to begin in coming days

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According to Minister Ross, the eagerly awaited public consultation on future greenway development will begin in the coming days. Minister Ross has had discussions on the proposed approach with many stakeholder including the Cabinet Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs. In response to a Dail question, he said that he will be launching a public consultation process in the coming days to inform the development of the Strategy and all interested parties will have the opportunity to give their views  as part of the public consultation process.  The public consultation process will last for 6 weeks and he is urging all those interested in the subject to submit their views on it.  These will be taken into account in finalising the Strategy and he expects that this will be completed and the Strategy published by the end of the year.

By 2018, it will be possible to cycle from Dublin to Athlone almost entirely off-road

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“By 2018, it will be possible to cycle from Dublin to Athlone almost entirely off-road thanks to Greenways" say Minister Ross who was speaking at the opening of the latest section of the Dublin Galway greenway. Minister Ross was at the opening of the Garrycastle to Whitegates National Cycle Network in Athlone on Friday 7th April. The project is an extension of the 42km Mullingar to Athlone Greenway officially opened in 2015, which in turn is part of the Dublin to Galway Greenway. The 2.2km cycleway/greenway from Garrycastle to Whitegates was completed by Westmeath County Council after it was awarded €496,187 in July, 2016 from a reallocation of National Cycle Network. The fund was reallocated from the western end of the Dublin Galway greenway which has met opposition from landowners. Minister Ross was particularly supportive and impressed with the forward thinking approach of the Westmeath, Longford, Meath and kildare councils in looking to these new cycle-ways as an op

Dublin Galway Greenway features highly in greenway projects funded from 2009 to 2016

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The Dublin Galway greenway in Westmeath, Longford, Kildare and Meath have featured highly in a recent list of projects funded by government since 2009. Responding to a Dail question from TD Jan O'Sullivan, Minister Ross released details of greenway projects. While not all of these are off-road, Minister Ross went on to say that "the projects constructed to date with funding from my Department are a mix of on-road and off-road and while some cannot be considered 'greenways' in the strictest sense they do feed into the expansion of a network of cycle routes" The counties of Longford, Westmeath, Meath and Kildare featured highly in the funded projects and it is clear from the information that these counties have made considerable progress once the funding became available. The entry in 2012 for a cycleway on the N6 will be of particular interest to followers of this blog. Objectors to the East Galway section of the greenway such as the IFA have suggested

List of Parking Spots on the Dublin Galway greenway

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Thanks to the  recent launch of Google Maps Lists, we have decided to start using Google Maps to help our readers discover the Dublin Galway Greenway.  You can access a list of parking locations on the link below.  https://www.google.com/maps/ placelists/list/1MKN_ QGYRbFtf9l3Ybogzksln650 Please note that some of these locations are not formal public parking locations and may be simply a verge on the side of the road. So please be considerate to other road users and land owners when using any of these locations.  Please be aware that the authors of this blog strongly recommend safe parking and obey all traffic laws and landownership rules.

Minister Ross says he is determined to see the Dublin Galway greenway

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Minister Shane Ross, says the Dublin Galway Greeway "may have been paused but it has not been halted" and that he remains committed to achieving the delivery of the Dublin Galway greenway. Speaking in the Dail in response to Robert Troy, Fianna Fail TD for Longford-Westmeath, Minister Ross said he believes the greenway will help to position Ireland as a destination for cycling holidays. Robert Troy was asking the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when he expects the proposed greenway from Dublin to Galway to be completed. Minister Troy criticized the consultation that happening up to now with landowners affected and he asked if the Minister and his officials would meet a group which has been set up and which is representative of people who are concerned about this section of the planned route. Minister was positive but said he was not " inclined to get involved in a local dispute if I think it will not do any good". Minister Ross says that official

Work Starting On Shovel Ready Sections of the Royal Canal Greenway

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Following on from the funding announcement for the Royal Canal greenway, the local authorities and  Waterways Ireland , are moving quickly to start on the latest sections of the Royal Canal greenway. This is excellent news and will be strongly welcomed by community groups and campaigners along the canal. This news will raise hopes among the campaigners that are hoping for the route to be completed to Clondra and should demonstrate to Minister Ross that when funds are allocated that they can be used effectively to build world class amenities. Minister Ross has pubically stated his support for greenways and says that they provide excellent value for money and benefits to local communities. Moyvalley to Ballasport MARINE NOTICE No.  118 of 2016 Royal   Canal Cycle Path Construction Waterways Ireland wishes to advise that the towpath of  Royal   Canal  from  Moyvalley to Ballasport and Longford Bridge to Abbeyshrule will be closed  with immediate effect to facilitate the constru

€23.5 million was allocated to Greenways over the period 2012 to 2016

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A total of €23.5 million has been allocated to Greenways over the period 2012 to 2016 in Ireland. In a response to Tony McLoughlin ( Fine Gael TD for  Sligo-Leitrim), Minister Shane Ross provided details to the Dail last week.  Minister Ross stated that  "Under the National Cycle Network (NCN) Funding Programme approximately €23.5 million was allocated over the period 2012 to 2016 to advance cycle routes that provided valuable transport and recreational infrastructure, with the added potential to enhance tourist activity for the areas concerned.  This includes €10 million allocated under the Government Stimulus package 2014. Under the first tranche of NCN funding for the years 2012/2013, fifteen cycling projects were completed by local authorities across the country with €7 million in funding provided.  Under the second tranche of NCN funding for the years 2014-2016, a further three projects shared in funding of €6.3 million.  Of these three projects only one (in Waterfo