Varadkar aims to have greenway ‘shovel-ready'
Getting “the Mullingar to Dublin section of the proposed coast-to-coast greenway to shovel-ready status” is one of the targets Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has set out in a mid-year review of the priorities set out for his department last December.
Published last Friday, the ‘mid-year review of priorities for 2013’ states:
• Progress schemes to encourage cycling and walking and bring the Mullingar to Dublin section of the proposed coast-to-coast greenway to shovel-ready status, and launch a new Active Travel Towns competition;
Planning for the proposed Dublin-Galway cycle route is currently being carried out by the National Roads Authority (NRA) and National Transport Authority (NTA). Preliminary design work on the route will be completed in 2013.
Also in the press release from the Dept of Transport were these, among many other, targets:
• Launch the new plastic card licence and implement the nationwide review of speed limits;
The new plastic card licence has been launched and responsibility for this is being transferred from local authorities to the Road Safety Authority. This nationwide review of speed limits has been completed and will be published shortly.
• Launch a new Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020;
This was launched in March 2013 and work is under way to implement the strategy. The Strategy – ‘Closing the Gap’ - will run until 2020 and aims to make Ireland one of the safest countries in terms of road deaths in the EU. It will also focus on new measures to reduce the number and severity of serious injuries arising from road collisions.