Council seeking consultants for Mullingar Kilbeggan greenway

A significant step has been taken on the journey to provide a greenway connecting Mullingar and Kilbeggan – although it is still likely to be at least three years before construction of the new route starts.

Westmeath County Council has advertised internationally seeking tenders from contractors capable of providing multi-disciplinary engineering and other specialised consultancy services.

That work will include preparation of a number of route options and consultation with the public before selection of the best route between the Grand Canal (Kilbeggan Branch) Greenway at Kilbeggan and the Old Rail Trail (Dublin Galway Greenway) at Mullingar.

The tendering process was launched just before Christmas, and runs till February 17.

Úna Mullen, a senior executive engineer in the National Roads Office at Westmeath County Council, explained that the aim is to engage technical consultants to help move the project through phases one to four of the project management guidelines.

She explained that some preliminary work has been undertaken already by the firm Tobin Engineering, engaged by Offaly County Council, which in 2021 was leading the project – but as it happened, new rules came into force just months later which had the effect of altering the course of progress.

“In September 2021 TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) rather than the Department of Transport, were nominated to fulfil the role of approving authority for all greenway projects, under the public spending code,” Úna said. She explained that the only greenways for which TII is not the approving authority are those in towns – which are the responsibility of the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Following TII’s appointment as approving authority, it drew up a new set of guidelines – ‘The Project Managers’ Manual for Greenway Projects’.

“That was released in June 2022, and now all projects have to be carried out in accordance with these rigorous guidelines,” said Úna.

Tobin Engineering – already working on preparatory work when the new guidelines came in – progressed the project to ‘phase zero’, which is scope and pre-appraisal, leaving things set for the four phases for which tenders are now being sought.

“One of the documents deliverable from that Phase Zero is a strategic assessment report, which forms part of the documents that went out to tender,” said Úna.

“The tender that is out at the moment is for technical consultants to move the project through phases one to four of the project management guidelines.

“Phase one is concept and feasibility; phase two is the options selection. Phase three is design and environmental evaluation, and phase four is the statutory process.

“A new consultant will now be engaged to move the project through these phases.”

It is anticipated that the cost of the consultancy work over the four phases will come to approximately €1.1m.

“We are talking about a timeline of about three years for these phases, one to four – and obviously these are all dependent on approval from TII and funding to progress to the next phase.”

The public will be given the opportunity to give their views at various stages during the project:

“During Phase One, which is feasibility, there will be public consultation; and then there will be two subsequent ones in Phase Two, during the route selection phase.”

Until the route selection actually happens, it is not possible to say how much of the way chosen will be off-road: “A whole range of different routes will be looked at, and we have to comply with ‘the five Ss’,” said Una, explaining that they include requirements that the route is scenic and that it is segregated.

“There’s a whole range of criteria that have to be looked at in evaluating all the route options.”

Una points out that the new greenway would help in linking Ireland’s growing network of cycle routes, and will open up the midlands to more tourists.