‘Park and ride’ facility on cards for town
Provision of a ‘park and ride’ facility for Kinnegad is on the 2026 works schedule for the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, Cllr Denis Leonard was assured when he asked about progress on the proposal at the February meeting.
The Labour councillor stated that at present, the main street parking in Kinnegad, which has to serve multiple purposes, is over-subscribed, and he pointed out that recently, a meeting was held with the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Robert Troy, TD, and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Sean Canney, TD, on the subject, “so we know the government is completely behind us on this. They want to build these park and rides”.
The official reply to Cllr Leonard’s request stated that the District Office is working with the Active Travel Section and the National Transport Authority with the aim of designing and preparing Part 8 documentation for a Park and Ride facility in Kinnegad, as part of the 2026 Schedule of Municipal District Works Programme.
Cllr Leonard urged the executive to expedite the project: “I think if we get one in Kinnegad, we have a great chance to get one inside of Mullingar and others, when people see the value of driving from the hinterlands into one spot, parking the car, rather than taking the congested motorway to Dublin, which an awful lot of people feel they have no option to do because there’s no place to park,” he said.
Traffic calming
At the same meeting, Cllr Leonard asked for an update on the exact traffic calming measures proposed for Kinnegad Juniors soccer facility on the Killucan Road now that a pedestrian crossing cannot be installed due to being outside town limits and timeline for these works.
“The District Office has advised that they will install additional road markings and signage along this section of road as part of the 2026 works programme,” the written reply to Cllr Leonard stated.
Disappointed that the “obvious” solution – a pedestrian crossing – cannot be provided, Cllr Leonard said that given the numbers of young people walking in that area, unless the district installs some solution, whether, ramps, signage or flashing lights, he fears what will happen.