There is a lot happening in County Meath on the cycling development front! Cyclist.ie was delighted to receive the update below from Navan Cycling Initiative who are doing sterling local campaigning work for the last few years.
New Greenway opens in Navan
Work on the Navan section of the Boyne Valley to Lakelands County Greenway was completed last month. The new greenway, which runs for 30km from Navan to Kingscourt, has already been a great success in locations such as Castletown and Nobber, and the Navan end has already proven to be just as popular with a huge amount of people out enjoying it.
At Navan Cycling Initiative, we have raised concerns about the lack of connectivity from the greenway trailhead to Navan town centre, and recently met with our local Active Travel team in Meath County Council to discuss the issue. Navan is in a fortunate position in that it will soon have not one but two top-class greenways (the other being the Boyne Greenway, which is still in the early planning stages), which will be fantastic for the town, but it is vital these greenways are properly connected with safe active travel infrastructure.
Navan schemes
Elsewhere in Navan, there are several cycle schemes ongoing in various planning stages (from concept to detailed design), with dedicated cycle lanes planned on the Dublin Road, the Kells Road, and the Trim Road, to name a few. See the table further below listing the schemes. These have been in planning for a number of years, having gone through the laborious Part 8 planning process, but Navan as a town is primed and ready to embrace active travel and become a cycle-friendly town. We are expecting the roll out of a new bike renting scheme (including e-bikes and cargo bikes!) over the summer, which will only get more and more people out cycling.
County Meath
There are also a number of schemes underway across County Meath. In Ashbourne, construction on the R135 Cycle Network, linking Ashbourne town centre to the Pillo Hotel roundabout, is expected to be complete by late summer. Other schemes being progressed include the Ratoath Pedestrian & Cycling Scheme, which is hoped to begin construction this year, and the Dunboyne to Clonee Pedestrian and Cycle Network, which is in the early planning stages. Meath was also successful in securing six new Safe Routes to School programmes, in various locations across the county, which will hopefully all be completed this year.
Cyclist.ie welcomes updates from any of our approx. 35 member groups on what is happening in their own district or county. If you would like to post an update on the website, just drop a line to our National Cycling Coordinator here.