Path to safety...

Residents of the Kells Road area of Oldcastle are appealing to Meath County Council to provide a short section of footpath to complete the Stoney Road loop walk.

They want the footpath from the Whitehills estate extended past Currans garage on the Kells Road as far as Stoney Road, a distance of less than 70 metres.

Fiona Lynch, who lives in Church Street says the path is badly needed to make the popular loop walk safer and to provide safe access to the Nearby shop, which is widely used by local people.

Fiona's son, Ryan is a wheelchair user and she brings him out every day for a walk.

“He needs to get out and get fresh air. I bring him on the loop walk, but it is extremely dangerous on that short piece where there is no footpath. It is a ticking time bomb, so many people walk on that road and someone will be killed there unless a safe pathway is provided,” she warned.

Fiona says that there is at least one other wheelchair user in the area and a lot of elderly people and parents with buggies use the Stoney Road loop.

“It is a lovely walk but that one section makes it very dangerous.

“The path is needed for people walking to the shop from Whitehills, Lough Crew Hills and Cluain Loinn and to get to the graveyard.

“We have been calling for this for years, but it is falling on deaf ears. It is so frustrating,” she says.

Cllr Peter Caffrey says: “The Stoney Road walk is about a 4km walk around the town which is used daily by local walkers, families mothers and children.

“There is a part of it from the Whitehills estate past the garage that meets up with the L28082 that needs to be widened and made more accessible as it is a very busy road and people have to walk out on the main road for part of it. It is an accident waiting to happen.

“We are not talking about a huge distance and they could put two white lines along the front of the garage, the owner is agreeable to that,” he said.

“It would make a much used amenity safer and provide access to the shop for the 65 houses in the Whitehills, Cluain Loinn and Lough Crew Hills estate.”

At a recent meeting of Kells Municipal Council, Cllr Caffrey called on Meath County Council to extend the footpath from the Whitehills estate to meet the L28082 Stoney Road and to widen the path in front of garage and grass verge.

“It is not suitable for wheelchair access at the moment, and it is being used every day by individuals with limited mobility,” he told the meeting.

He was told Meath County Council Active Travel Section have no plans to extend the footpath.

“Provision of a footpath at this location is not practical as there are a number of other difficulties that present challenges to wheelchair users and those with limited mobility including gradient, the 80m crossing of forecourt and 75m long missing section of footpath between Curran’s Garage and Castle Garden supplies.

“A footpath at this location does not provide accessibility to a school or another public amenity. Meath County Council is generally focusing its resources on developing better footpaths in more urban areas.”

He was told the Transportation Department had undertaken and presented an assessment and prioritisation of footpath schemes linked to rural schools and community facilities to the Transport SPC. The recommendations to the SPC will inform the footpath programme in the years ahead.