KILDARE: Not enough money for walking/cycling route in Maynooth

There is insufficient funding available to properly upgrade the Celbridge Road in Maynooth for walkers and cyclists.

Green Party councillor Peter Hamilton asked for any information about any way to fund the safety and active transport upgrade of the route.

He said this is urgent and €150,000 is needed.

KCC engineer Donal Hodgins “we don’t have enough money to progress it very far.”

HE also said the council does not  have approval from the National Transport Authority, which has asked for more information about the route.

Funding of €10,000 was provided by the NTA for  this in 2023 and work is being done by KCC to progress to the public consultation phase between October and December.

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Mr Hodgins said  it is normal for the NTA to wait for the outcome of the public consultation process before committing to making more funding available.

He said the NTA is aware that the Kildare councillors want to proceed with the scheme.

 The current projected construction cost of the entire NTA funded sustainable transport projects exceeds  €130m, with an annual allocation promised of €10m. 

He said this means there is little scope to prioritise  “singular schemes unless funding allocations are increased and the scheme has completed consultation and design phases.”

 Any process to fund schemes without NTA involvement would mean that the money comes from KCC’s coffers.