Call to include Kildare towns into traffic survey
Photo is for illustrative purposes only
Attempts are being made to improve conditions for those who walk, cycle and wheel in the county, with local authorities seeking research related to active travel in Kildare towns.
At the most recent meeting of Kildare County Council, cllrs Angela Feeney, Mark Leigh and Anne Breen motioned “that the council writes to the National Transport Authority (NTA) to commence a Walking and Wheeling Index for major towns in Kildare to identify trends, improvements and sentiment for those who walk, cycle and wheel in our county.”
The NTA, alongside the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust, completes indexes every two years which function as assessments of how people travel and to inform the authorities on what is needed to make active travel safer, more appealing and easier.
The council’s report - issued in response to the motion by director of services for transport, mobility and open spaces Siobhan Scully - stated that with the agreement of the elected members, the council would write to the NTA to request the expansion of the index to more locations around Kildare after Kilcock, Maynooth, Celbridge and Leixlip were surveyed as part of the 2025 report for the Dublin metropolitan area.
The benefits of such research on Kildare’s urban centres were emphasised at the meeting, with independent councillor Pádraig McEvoy expressing his support for the motion. A council executive present at the meeting said the council was happy to write to the NTA.
