Construction on the New Ross to Waterford Greenway is set to start 'imminently'.
The bicycle-friendly route is an extension of the highly successful Waterford Greenway which connects Waterford city and Dungarvan.
The expanded greenway project will pass through Ferrybank, Slieverue and Glenmore in South Kilkenny and Rosbercon outside New Ross, Co. Wexford.
The route is set for completion in 2021.
The first post-COVID-19 Piltown Municipal District Council meeting is set to be held today, June 3, to discuss the greenway project.
Speaking to Beat, local councillor Ger Frisby (Fianna Fáil) says "work is due to start any day now."
I was speaking to the chief engineer on the project two weeks ago and he told me work will start imminently. Workers will be on-site once we know they can operate safely within COVID social distancing guidelines", said Cllr Frisby.
The first phase of construction will be to remove the railway line and sleepers before having them returned to CIE. Some vegetation had already been removed along the Rosbercon entrance to the line before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The project was held up by CIE for the bones of twelve months as they had to declare the line abandoned. That process is complete now."
In 2023 the line is set to expand further with the addition of a Waterford to Rosslare Greenway, which will run through Bridgetown, Wellington Bridge and Campile in Wexford before connecting with the Waterford-New Ross Greenway in Slieverue.
Cllr Michael Sheehan (Fianna Fáil), details some of the areas that will benefit from the route: "[This project] will be really important for places like Ballykinane and Campile that will follow the old railway tracks and bring a lot of life into those towns. So this is a very important project for the South East."
Photo by Mabel Amber from Pexels
