Hope interest in ‘Safe Routes to School’ will rise

Only 11 of the 90 schools in Westmeath expressed an interest in the Safe Routes to School initiative, but 40 of them took part in the Cycling Park initiative, Pat Nally, head of the Active Travel team, has revealed.

Addressing a recent meeting of the Transport and Planning SPC, he said free bike racks and shelters were provided to all 40 of the schools that took part – 40 out of 90 was a very good uptake, he said.

Mr Nally said it was “sad” that only 11 of the 90 schools in the county showed an interest in Safe Routes to School. It aims to accelerate the delivery of walking/ scooting and cycling infrastructure on key access routes to schools, provide “front of school” treatments which will enhance access to school grounds, and expand the amount of bike parking available at schools.

“We can only invest in schools that show an interest and maybe more schools will get involved when the 11 schools get their schemes delivered. Maybe they will then see the benefit and start taking a more active interest,” Mr Nally said.

“We are within weeks of publishing a tender for the long-awaited pedestrian/cycle bridge at Saunders Bridge, Mullingar, and we hope to have it delivered by the end of the year,” Mr Nally said.

Bus shelters have been provided in Rochfortbridge and Athlone and there are 11 shelters in Mullingar and eight in Athlone on the delivery programme. Shelters in Clonmellon and Delvin are expected to be in place in the next couple of weeks.

If you want a bus shelter, get your speak in to the district engineer immediately because they have to be assessed, Mr Nally advised. You need a minimum of five buses stopping per day to warrant a shelter, he explained. School bus stops do not meet the criteria unless there is a public bus stopping there.

To date, the first example of segregated infrastructure in Westmeath has been built at Ardmore Road, Mullingar. It consists of a two-way cycle path, a footpath, and a buffer to protect the vulnerable.

In Moate, Active Travel paid for work on the old CIÉ road and co-funded that with an Outdoor Recreational scheme to link it to the greenway, and then linked into a Community Involvement Scheme on the Ballymore Road. “With a bit of lateral thinking, we brought three funding sources together at the same time,” Mr Nally remarked.

Mr Nally said that in Ballinagore, where speeding was an issue, Active Travel got funding to tighten the junction and put in traffic calming. That was done in conjunction with a Village Enhancement Scheme.

There is funding for pedestrian upgrades, such as the one at St Finian’s College, Mullingar.

In Delvin, a small footpath to the school was improved to make it more attractive for children. That is going to tie in with a bigger TII job on the N52, Mr Nally stated.

Cllr Denis Leonard said a lot of people do not have the option to walk or cycle to work because it is too far. He suggested more local employment and more sustainable transport be provided.

Greyways

Cllr Leonard called for greyways, cycle lanes along the hard shoulders of roads, and recommended the old N4 and the N6. It would cost little to put a walk and cycleway between the likes of Kinnegad and Coralstown or between Rochfortbridge and Moate.

He submitted that it was not safe to walk or cycle to many schools because of a lack of footpaths or greyways. He said massive plans are announced every year, but most of the money is being spent in the big towns. You have to have safe walk and cycleways if you want people to walk or cycle to school, the shops, the sports facilities. If you really want to make it safe for school goers, people with disabilities, mothers with buggies and children, the elderly, you must have a safe walkway in every single town and village in the county and we have to knock on every door of the department until that happens, he stated. Cllr Frank McDermott said he looked forward to the development of the footpath in Delvin, from the sales yard to the national school. “Teachers have told me that when they are bringing children from the church to the school you can find, with the usual pushing and shoving, a young gason or girl being shoved out on the road, accidentally.” It will make a big difference if this is implemented, he said.

Cllr McDermott welcomed the walkway from Collinstown to The Cut and said he believed the tar would be put there shortly and the next stretch, to the lake, will finally be entertained. “Collinstown to The Cut came out of the Outdoor Recreational scheme and I can’t take credit for that,” Mr Nally confessed.

Alison Hough remarked that a nice cycle and walkway had been provided at Ardmore Road, but then it stops. What happened there?, she asked.

Mr Nally explained that the space was not there to deliver a full segregated cycleway. “What we have there is a wider footpath on which you can cycle slowly. You have to see what you can do with the space available within the standards,” he said.

Chairperson, Cllr Louise Heavin, welcomed the work done in Ballinagore, but thought there was a lot of concrete used. She said trees and biodiversity would be more attractive and cheaper in projects such as that. Mr Nally assured her that biodiversity and the creation of an attractive community space under Village Enhancement were part of the Ballinagore project.

Cllr Heavin also called for sensor lights on the greenways because more people are now using them, particularly the Moate to Athlone one, to commute to and from work. Could we provide lights that come on as someone is passing through, to avoid bikes colliding?, she asked.

Mr Nally said department guidelines are awaited regarding greyways and are likely to be delivered in tandem with the speed limit reviews. We got some lighting at a section in Moate because we made a hard case that the schools and houses were on that section. We got lighting on the CIÉ road because of the links to the houses, but lighting on the greenway does not fall under Active Travel, Mr Nally explained.

Ambrose Clarke, acting director of services, praised Mr Nally and his small team on the work they are doing. He and Mr Nally assured the meeting that all big projects now have an Active Travel aspect.