Views of public sought on new Active Travel route

The public are being invited to find out more – and give their views on – the latest of four Active Travel Schemes in Mullingar.

On Monday next, January 12, a public information and feedback session on the Mullingar Courthouse to Saunder’s Bridge Active Travel Scheme is to take place at the county buildings from 3pm to 8pm.

Westmeath County Council, in conjunction with the National Transport Authority, is inviting residents of the local area, members of the public “and interested parties” to attend the session.

The preliminary design will be on display and staff and designers will be available to answer queries on the day.

This design will remain available to view at Áras an Chontae, Mount Street, until the close of business on Friday of next week, and it is until then that feedback comments will be accepted.

In total, the council have planned four routes in what is termed the Mullingar Active Travel Schemes Bundle, aimed to promote sustainability by encouraging walking and cycling, and to reduce traffic congestion and lower emissions.

Along the routes, enhanced safety measures are being introduced through the redesign of pathways and the creation of designated cycle lanes prioritising safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

The four routes are the Orbital C-Link Active Travel Scheme, which covers a distance of 1.5km from the bridge at Grange to the Lidl roundabout at the Lough Sheever Corporate Park; the Harbour Street Active Travel Scheme, which runs the 1.6km from St Finian’s College to Gilleran’s pub; the Dublin Road Active Travel Scheme, which runs 2.5km from Mullingar Autos to the Mullingar Park Hotel and this latest route, a 1.5km stretch from Mullingar Courthouse to Saunders Bridge.

According the council, this latter route includes sections of Mount Street, Mount Street Gardens, Jail Hill, Sunday’s Well Road; Auburn Road, the town park, Millmount Road and Ballinderry Road.

Further details about the project can be seen at mullingaractivetravel.com/courthouse.

Westmeath County Council, as the contracting authority, and the National Transport Authority (NTA) appointed AtkinsRéalis (consultants) to provide engineering-led multi-disciplinary consultancy and design services for the concept development and option selection, preliminary design and statutory processes of active travel provisions and associated works on the Mullingar Active Travel Schemes Bundle.

Funding

Just before Christmas, Dept of Transport ministers Darragh O’Brien and Seán Canney announced funding for Active Travel staff in local authorities for a further five years, up to the end of 2030.

In 2020 the department increased funding for walking and cycling infrastructure projects. It advised local authorities, through the City and County Management Association, that funding would be allocated to establish dedicated teams of Active Travel staff. The funding was guaranteed until 2026, to increase the capacity of local authorities to deliver Active Travel projects around the country.

Since then, more than €1 billion has been invested in Active Travel projects and approximately 240 staff have been recruited across all 31 local authorities, which has led to the delivery of some 1,000km of walking and cycling infrastructure in the last five years.

The National Development Plan Transport Sectoral Plan, published in November 2025, has continued the commitment of €360 million per annum for Active Travel and greenways until 2030.