Council plough ahead with plan for sustainable pedestrian and cycling schemes

Meath County Council is forging ahead with a five-year programme of sustainable pedestrian and cycling schemes, a meeting of the council was told.

Fine Gael Cllr Yemi Adenuga had called for the introduction of “fast track procedures” for the implementation of Covid-19 mobility measures in the county.

However, the council replied that fast tracking was not something it had pursued. There were limited opportunities to implement schemes that would have the impact outlined in Cllr Adenuga’s motion because the current infrastructure was of a scale that made doing stretches in isolation difficult.

The officials said, “Following the lockdown earlier in the year the council had looked at various options for improving cycling or pedestrian facilities in town centres using temporary measures. However, these considerations usually resulted in providing an incomplete cycling service with limited connectivity or a reduction in on-street parking”.

Instead of temporary measures, the council had focused its resources to continue and develop permanent schemes in line with a proposal being considered at national level to construct a significant programme of infrastructure that would feed into a five-year programme of sustainable pedestrian and cycling schemes.

The council is currently working with the National Transport Authority seeking grant approvals for numerous cycling schemes throughout then county as well as enhancing the town bus service in Navan, the officials said.