A new fund of €50 million for cycling and walking facilities has been opened, with 22 of the 26 counties in the Republic invited to apply for the money.
The fund is not open to all counties because the
Government is trying to funnel the money into more rural areas and away from
counties that can already draw funding from other schemes.
It means Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow – all in
Leinster - have been excluded from the scheme.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the scheme was
open to local authorities in the remaining 22 counties to apply to secure
investment in cycling and walking projects.
The Department of Transport said the aim of the funding
was to “support the development of high-quality cycling and walking
infrastructure outside of our cities”.
It added local authorities in the greater Dublin area
along with regional cities were already eligible for ‘active travel’ funding
from the National Transport Authority “and so this investment is specifically
targeted at towns and villages across the country”.
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Local authorities intending to apply for funding under
the €50 million scheme have been asked to identify convenient and direct routes
for active travel modes which can include “reallocating space from motor
traffic and car parking”.
Mr Ryan said that since the Covid-19 pandemic began the
Republic had seen an increase in cycling and walking, and a “reconnection to
our local areas”.
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“Now is the time to build on that by providing this
specific funding for 2021 for high quality cycling and pedestrian
infrastructure in towns and villages across the country,” he said.
“We want to facilitate people cycling and walking as part
of their daily routine, connecting residential areas with schools, public
transport, workplaces and public amenities.
“We’re looking forward to exciting projects from our
local authorities which deliver the kind of segregated paths and other
facilities that will encourage more people to walk and cycle.”
Projects that will be considered under the scheme include:
- Development of active travel network strategies
- Provision of new or widened footpaths or segregated cycle tracks
- Reconstruction or renewal of defective footpaths or cycle tracks
- Improved crossing facilities for pedestrians or cyclists including raised surfaces, zebra crossings, provision of lighting and signalised crossings
- Provision of cycle parking
- Dishing of footpaths at junctions, raised pedestrian crossings, and reducing road width at crossing points
- Closing roads to vehicles, except for access only
- Permeability measures to support improved access within and between local communities
- Setting appropriate speed limits in accordance with the guidelines for setting and managing speed limits in Ireland and/or introducing a ‘slow zone’
- Pedestrian or cycle bridge rehabilitation works
- Design work in respect of the provision of a future pedestrian or cycle bridge
In Leinster funding will be available to the local
authorities in Louth, Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, Laois, Carlow, Kilkenny and
Wexford.
The counties of Munster eligible for funding are: Kerry,
Tipperary, Clare and rural towns and villages in Cork, Limerick and Waterford
but not the cities in the latter three counties.
In Connacht, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, and rural
towns and villages in Galway are eligible, but not Galway
And in Ulster the three counties situated in the Republic - Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan – are all eligible with no restrictions on where the cash could be invested.
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