6. Public Consultation
The proposed cycleway in East Meath from Donacarney to Mornington ignores the large population that live in South Drogheda. Large estates like Grange Rath, Deepforde, 5 Oaks with thousands of occupants have families that want to cycle and walk safely to Donacarney and onwards to Mornington and the beaches at Bettsytown etc. In the attached photo from google maps you can see the large population of houses on the left. And I have highlighted in red where the cycleway & walkway is needed a 1km+ distance. You can also see at Colp there are 3 schools - Educate Together Secondary School, An Bradan Feasa Primary School & further down the Mill Road - The Drogheda Grammar School. All these children need to be able to cycle & walk safely from South Drogheda and from Donacarney where all the new houses have been built.
This is a priority for the safety of the children to get to and from school on a daily basis. These roads are very dangerous due to the large population now living in East Meath. If safe cycleways are not provided urgently there is a very strong danger that a child will be seriously injured or sadly die on this road.
To clarify exactly what is needed:
1. A temporary rocky surface has already been provided from the end of Grange Rath estate on the Colpe Road to the Mill Road corner. This surface now needs to be made permanent so that children may cycle, scoot & walk safely to school. The rocky surface is not suitable for cycling & scooting.
2. A new cycleway from the colpe road / mill road cross needs to be provided to Donacarney. This will link up with the new cycleway & walkway from Donacanery to Bettystown that is out for planning permission. This will also link up with the proposed cycleway from Donacarney to the proposed Greenway at Mornington.
Thus the greenway will now be connected to South Drogheda as Grange Rath connects all the way to Drogheda town. Louth County Council also have planned this year to create a cycleway & walkway from the Meath border just after Grange Rath to the train station. Thus the greenway and Donacanery and the beaches will now be linked to the train station and to the train network across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
