By Kenneth Fox
The National Transport Authority (NTA) is allocating €55m to local councils for cycling and walking projects.
The funding was part of the July Jobs Stimulus Plan announced by the Government last month.
The plan will fund 547 projects in 11 counties with Dublin local authorities being allocated just over half at €27.3 million.
The aim of the fund is to improve walking and cycling infrastructure throughout the country.
Local authorities in the Greater Dublin Area and the metropolitan areas of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford were eligible to apply for funding under the scheme.
An equivalent funding programme is in place through the Department of Transport for all other local authority areas.
According to the NTA "The funding supports local authorities’ response to Covid-19 challenges and assist with their work to equip local communities and businesses with improved walking and cycling infrastructure."
It will also allow for changes to traffic management arrangements to facilitate the reallocation of overall road space to improve facilities and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Rebooting the economy
Speaking about today's announcement, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said:
“One of the priorities for this government when we took office in June was to respond to the economic difficulties brought about by the Covid crisis."
He said they turned their attention to the putting together a package of measures that would go some way to rebooting the economy.
He added "The projects that the NTA is funding will make a real difference at local level when it comes to improving infrastructure for cycling, walking and will make our cities, towns and villages more accessible and attractive for everyone."
In terms of the cycling and walking projects planned these includes:
-Creation of ‘slow zone’ in Waterford City Centre
-Installation of parklets in Cork City
-Upgrade of cycle lane infrastructure in Castletroy, Limerick
-Installation of protected cycle facilities in Glenageary, Dun Laoghaire
-Resurfacing of pedestrian area, Galway City
-Pedestrian crossings in Navan, Trim, Mornington and Oldcastle, Co Meath
-Allocations to Councils
The overall funding available for local councils is €55,005,912, with the breakdown being:
- Waterford City & County Council – €2,347,500
- Dublin City Council – €12,065.000
- South Dublin County Council – €2,440,995
- Fingal County Council – €3,890,000
- Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council – €8,986.067
- Meath County Council – €3,105,000
- Kildare County Council – €1,840,000
- Wicklow County Council – €3,342,350
- Limerick City & County Council – €9,988,000
- Galway City Council – €3,001,000
- Cork City Council – €4,000,000
