Funding for Offaly active travel projects warmly welcomed

Active travel projects in Edenderry and Portarlington will make it safer and easier for older people and school children to move about, according to Green Party Councillor Mark Hackett.

“The Portarlington Cemetery Link will be particularly beneficial to those walking from the church to the graveyard,” he says. “Right now, that road is dangerous for pedestrians. We must remember that many elderly people like to visit graves and not all of them drive. This new walkway will be a great change for them.”

Another walkway, in Geashill, has been approved for €30k under the Community Involvement Scheme, after Cllr. Hackett submitted an application for it.

A 400m cycleway along Hare’s Lane in Edenderry is to receive €175k, while a further €50k is to be spent on the Edenderry Cycling Network Plan and €75k will be spent on a cycle path linking housing estates to the Grand Canal Greenway.

“More than 1,000 school pupils in Edenderry will be able to use a new 1km cycle link to the Grand Canal Greenway to bring them to school,” says Cllr. Hackett. “That’s a healthier option for getting kids to school and it will ease the traffic congestion in the town.”

Much of the investment comes from the Department of Transport’s Active Travel Fund, a key element of Green Party participation in Government.

“It’s great to see this money being put to good use in Offaly,” says Minister Pippa Hackett. “We will all benefit from being able to choose cyclepaths and good footpaths rather than relying so heavily on the car for every journey and clogging up our towns with traffic.