Tag Archives: walking

SAINT Flannan’s College is hoping to get the green light to reopen a former pedestrian entrance as part of efforts to encourage walking and cycling. A study carried out on behalf of the school has shown that no staff that were surveyed and just 17% of surveyed students chose those modes of transport to travel to school. The board of management at the secondary school has applied to Clare County Council for planning permission to reopen the entrance on the boundary wall to the Clare Road, as well as erecting a barrier and gate. The school, with a student population of 1,181 with 100 staff, currently has one vehicular access on College View Road and two existing pedestrian access points. According to documents lodged with the application, preliminary meetings have taken place between St Flannan’s College, consulting engineers Punch and Clare County Council with an agreement in place to construct a controlled crossing point adjacent to the proposed pedestrian entrance …

A POPULAR walking route in the Tuamgraney area will be surveyed by the local authority, following concerns over the condition of the footpath. The matter was the subject of a motion from Councillor Pat Burke at the Killaloe Municipal District meeting who raised concerns about the section between Niland’s Filling Station and Nuala’s Restaurant. “I have had a number of representations on this from people in Tuamgraney,” he said. “It is one of the busiest paths in the area. People drive to Scariff and then park up and walk to Tuamgraney. The route is lit and people are out regularly in their high-vis vests. “I thought it was in relatively good condition until I walked it and saw sections which need repair.” Cathaoirleach, Councillor Pat Hayes noted that the area has been a popular walking route for some time. He welcomed an allocation of €28,000 for flooding in front of Scariff Community College. In a written reply, Senior Executive Engineer …

A CALL has come from the new Cathaoirleach of the West Clare Municipal District for local and secondary roads to be given back to local communities to provide safe places for people to cycle between local towns and villages. Councillor Joe Garrihy told the June meeting of the district that, during lockdown, record numbers of people had been able to safely walk and cycle and get to know their localities. “I saw people of every age out cycling,” he said. “My 14 year-old son learned how to cycle on roads he wouldn’t have been able to travel previously. We are all aware of how dangerous North Clare roads can be. Lately, people have been able to cycle and walk in a safe manner. We also have a vast number of roads in the district which poses a challenge in terms of maintenance.” Reacting to a council response outlining the complexity of making his motion a reality, Councillor Garrihy said he …

A NEW Ennis based community group advocating for “healthy and happy streets” believe investment in walking and cycling infrastructure in the proposed Programme for Government will have a positive impact on public health and the local economy. The proposed Programme for Government includes a ring-fenced investment of €360m in walking and cycling infrastructure throughout Ireland. Better Ennis have welcomed what it describes as a “serious investment” in active travel infrastructure. The Programme for Government includes the commitment to develop a national network of greenways – not only as tourist amenities, but designed and implemented so that they can be used by students, commuters and people enjoying cycling as their daily physical exercise. There is a focus on increasing the numbers of children walking and cycling to school and Better Ennis say will have a “huge positive impact” in reducing traffic within Ennis town. “It is important that the active travel infrastructure is well designed, implemented, and maintained, and in that …

  HAVING cycle lanes and footpaths right beside each other is causing problems in Shannon, with some elderly people afraid to walk to local shops. That was the message delivered at last week’s meeting of Shannon Town Council last week after independent councillor Cathy McCafferty put down a motion asking for details of any measures that would be taken to “address the anomaly of so-called ‘shared use footpaths’ put in place by the local authority given that the Department of Transport has confirmed its intention to introduce fixed charge notices for various cycling offences, which are likely to include cycling on a footpath.” However, she was told the introduction of these fines wouldn’t be relevant to the shared use paths/lanes. “The shared-use foot/cycle paths currently in place in Shannon are signed and lined for shared-use and as such would not be subject to these fixed charge notices. Cyclists are allowed to use marked cycle paths and mixed-use pedestrian/cycle paths, but …