‘Pipeline of projects’ for next year, say Active Travel team

The phrase that has become ubiquitous in almost every story in relation to transport and road use in modern day Ireland is ‘active travel’, the name of a strategy that aims to transform travel infrastructure across the county by enhancing options for walking, cycling, and – as far as possible – steering road users away from the use of private cars.

Under that heading “there’s a lot going on”, senior executive engineer Pat Nally of Westmeath County Council’s Active Travel Department told members of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad at their November meeting in Mullingar, as he delivered a presentation on the council’s Active Travel Investment Programme, which this year has had a budget of €4m.

Mr Nally said the Active Travel team have a “pipeline of projects” designed to build a lasting foundation for sustainable travel across the region.

A key aspect is the prioritisation of active travel (walking, wheeling, and cycling) and public transport over private car use and he explained that to obtain government funding local authorities have to prioritise decarbonisation, maintain their existing infrastructure, improve transport mobility for both people and goods at local level and achieve improvements in regional connectivity.

Mr Nally underscored the programme’s alignment with several national and regional policies, such as Ireland’s Climate Action Plans, the Sustainable Mobility Policy, and the National Investment Framework for Transport for Ireland (NIFTI), all aimed at reducing emissions and prioritising environmentally friendly transport options.

Funding

“It’s okay to say we don’t like some of this – but that’s how we get the funding,” he told the members.

Mr Nally said the Climate Action Plan 2023, lists as principles avoiding the need for travel; shifting to more environmentally friendly modes of travel, and then improving.

“So you’ll hear this a lot: ‘avoid, shift, improve’,” he said, explaining that the purpose of the active travel investment programme is to roll out walking and cycling infrastructure and cycle and greenway networks to enable people make the shift to more environmentally friendly modes of travel.

Mr Nally highlighted that the primary focus of the programme is on creating dedicated, high-quality infrastructure that prioritises commuting needs, such as school routes and work commutes, over recreational routes, making it easier and safer for residents to opt for active travel options.

He explained that projects within the programme are designed to encourage routine, daily journeys by foot or bicycle and are underpinned by a five-year NTA strategy that aims to create a robust commuting network across Ireland.

As part of that, his team intend having a pipeline of projects come before the council members in Westmeath for six months of next year – “a scheme a month kind of thing”, he said, covering six cycle routes in Mullingar.

This year, 40 out of the 90 schools in Westmeath took the council up on their offer of free cycle shelters. But only 11 schools expressed an interest in the Safe Routes to School programme.