Navan park and ride facility work could start this year

Work on a new 200 space park and ride facility for Navan could start later this year.

Proposals for the facility on the N51 near the entrance to St Patricks Classical school is going through the planning process and the facility could be in place as early as next year.

Councillors were given a progress report on the project last week and were told that subject to planning approval and funding from the National Transport Authority, works could commence later this year.

The facility will include a new offline bus bay along the westbound lane of the N51, capable of accommodating up to four large coaches.

It will include two new bus shelters, a new bus stand area and cycle parking.

The car parking area will be capable of accommodating a total of 181 car parking spaces, including six mobility impaired parking spaces and 18 e-car charging spaces.

Other works at the site will include associated accommodation and fencing works, public lighting, a CCTV system, landscaping works and surface water drainage works.

The proposed car parking area will be accessed by a new vehicular two-way access located at the western end of the proposed site and will incorporate a ghost right turning lane for northbound traffic on the N51, and three pedestrian walkways accessed from the footway along the N51.

Each pedestrian walkway will facilitate mobility impaired access. It is proposed to provide 20 bicycle parking stands within the park and ride facility to facilitate cyclists wishing to avail of the proposed facility.

A pedestrian access to St Patrick’s Classical School will be provided as part of the facility. This will provide a safe route from the proposed bus stops and will provide a link for cyclists to the public cycling infrastructure on the N51.

Cllr Eddie Fennessy said "Council's plan to provide a park and ride on the Moat Road is welcome for a number of reasons. The site will provide almost almost 200 additional parking spaces for the town, have charging points for electric cars and facilitate the needs of public transport users, pedestrians and cyclists. This is a good initiative in terms of eco-friendly infrastructure and I look forward to seeing more projects of this type rolled out in Navan."

It will be one of two park and ride facilities proposed within a mile of each other to the west of the town.

There are proposals for a park and ride facility at Liscarton as part of the Navan 2030 plans.