Not so active travel... No Govt funds for Trim-Navan pathway plan

Plans for a two-way cycleway linking Navan and Trim that was expected to go to construction this year have been shelved due to lack of funding.

The cycle and walking track was to be built along one side of the R161 Navan to Trim Road utilising the existing road verges under the Department of Transport's 'Pathfinder' programme. These were innovative public transport, walking and cycling projects that could be quickly delivered and the Trim to Navan cycle link was one of two local projects approved for the scheme in October 2022 and set to be delivered within three years. It involved 9kms of two-way segregated cycle track and 2kms of shared active travel facility from the Balreask Cross Roads, south of Navan to the Newtown junction in Trim.

Plans had gone through public consultation and the project was "shovel ready" but it was confirmed at the full meeting of Meath County Council that the scheme, estimated to cost around €5.2m, would not go ahead with Director of Services Martin Murray telling members that "the funding never materialised and it was as simple as that".

He told how the council's allocation for 2025 is just €12m and that other Active Travel projects that had been in the pipeline such as the scheme for south of Ashbourne were also ready to go but there was no funding. A €24m scheme for Ratoath was shelved last year and Mr Murray said this was now nearer €30m but the reality is that they only have an allocation of €12m. He outlined they would keep progressing with pipeline projects to have them ready to go in the hope that the funding mechanisms would change.

Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe said they would continue to fight for the scheme, saying it was an excellent scheme and the €5m cost wasn't huge in the grand scheme of things, compared to other transportation projects.

Trim and Navan councillors expressed their disappointment that the cycleway was not going ahead pointing out that as well as being designed to take cars off the road, it would also be an important link for tourism. Cllr Noel French brought up the issue at Monday's meeting saying there seemed to be a commitment that the money was coming but then all of a sudden it disappears, adding that it would have made a huge contribution in terms of addressing climate change and developing tourism. "Unless we have cycleways and pathways, we are wasting our time trying to get people out of their cars."

Cllr Ronan Moore said it was "both disappointing and worrying"that there were a number of active travel projects that might fall foul of the same issue and pointed out that council staff had put a lot of work into the scheme, that it had gone through public consultaiton and was now " essentially suspended and left on the shelf".

"It was a project that seemed to be strong and positive and I am asking government parties to reconsider where funding is spent in terms of active transport and ensure that these projects that are shovel ready and have the time and effort and energy put in to them, do go ahead."

Cllr Padraig Fitzsimons questioned what it meant for the Balreask/Borallion junction, saying the pathfinder project was to be the "answer for that junction" and the meeting heard this was not affected.