Cycle lanes to be upgraded in Kildare town but no timeline offered
Cyclepath in Newbridge
LOCAL authorities have said that they are working on an active travel solution for Newbridge’s Main Street which will involve a two-way cycle lane layout, but the design will not be implemented this year.
This emerged after local councillors Chris Pender, Tracey O’Dwyer and Peggy O’Dwyer met with council officials in March and a €200,000 allocation was made by the council for the project in April.
The matter was brought up at the most recent meeting of Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, where cllr Tom McDonnell asked Kildare County Council the following question: “Can the council confirm if there are any imminent/immediate plans to remove cycle lanes on Main Street, Newbridge?”.
Senior engineer in sustainable transport and traffic management Chris Galvin replied that the local authority is preparing a proposal which will involve “bidirectional (two-way) cycle lanes on the north side of Main Street, Newbridge”.
Senior executive officer Mark McLoughlin added that the works to implement the new layout will not happen before the end of this year and was unable to say if they would be carried out within the next 12 months.
The current layout involves cycle lanes on both sides of the street. This layout was introduced as a temporary measure in 2021 pending the development of a permanent scheme.
Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer brought forward a motion last December seeking a costed plan for removing the temporary bollards and reinstating the road pending a detailed permanent design. This led to an onsite meeting involving cllr O’Dwyer, cllr Chris Pender, cllr Peggy O’Dwyer and council officials in March, where the issues with the current layout were discussed.
The council’s chief executive’s report for April confirmed that €200,000 sustainable transport allocation had been made for Newbridge Main Street after the meeting with councillors, and that a drawing of potential options was being prepared ahead of discussions with the National Transport Authority.
Speaking to the Kildare Nationalist, cllr Chris Pender expressed his concern that the council have indicated that there will be a delay to the implementation of the new layout. He said that questions regarding clarity over a timeline is difficult until a master plan document is published in September.
Cllr Pender also expressed his confidence that the two-way cycle lane solution would be a better option than the current layout, saying that if properly sized cycle lanes were implemented “we wouldn’t be worried about people opening their car doors onto people”.
