Proposed greenway route west of Athlone published

The planned greenway from Athlone to Galway is expected to pass close to the Bastion Quay apartments, the Shamrock Lodge Hotel and St Peter’s Football Club, in Athlone according to the preferred route now published.

More than a year after an ‘emerging route corridor’ for the greenway was selected, maps showing the ‘preferred route’ have gone on display on the project website, and have been shown at public information events in Oranmore, Gort, Portumna and Ballinasloe.

The preferred route map from Athlone Castle, heading west, takes the greenway alongside the river, past Sean’s Bar, the Shannon Weir apartments and the Bastion Quay apartments, before turning right and continuing on top of the flood defences at the back of Deerpark Road.

It would then turn right again at Mick McQuaid’s Bridge and would continue along Canal Banks up to the playground outside the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.

There it would turn left, and continue into greenfield land at Doogue and on towards Newtowncarberry.

It would come relatively close to the McCarthy Park home of St Peter’s FC before turning southwards, and proceeding west of Clonown, through the Carricknaughton, Creggan and Drumlosh bogs and on to Shannonbridge.

The remainder of the route takes in Clonfert, Meelick, Portumna, Woodford, Gort, Kinvara, Kilcolgan, Clarinbridge, Rinville and Oranmore. There is also an extension to the main greenway route to connect it with Ballinasloe.

A brochure distributed as part of the public information events stated that the greenway would be “a world class amenity” that would benefit local communities.

It said it “will typically be eight metres wide but may vary in width, depending on topography and drainage requirements”.

Michael Kelly, project coordinator with Westmeath County Council, said the preferred route was “not fixed” and there might be adjustments as the planning continues.

“We are only now getting into doing a detailed design on the preferred route, and we have to do an environmental evaluation on that,” he said.

“It could move slightly, or be tweaked, over the next 12 months. It’s not fixed – we have said that. We won’t be going to An Bord Pleanála (with a planning application) until quarter three, at the earliest, in 2024.”

The public information events in Galway attracted protests from some landowners in the county who have concerns about the impact on their land.

It’s estimated that the first event in Oranmore drew a gathering of around 300 people. Approximately 250 people attended the events in Gort and Portumna, and the final event in Ballinasloe attracted a slightly smaller turnout.

Mr Kelly said his overall sense was that the public information events had been worthwhile.

“It was a good engagement for both parties. There were learnings from it, and we have to work on that now over the next period,” he said.