Greenway Linkage

One of the main complaints of the first phase of the Tralee to Fenit Greenway was the lack of route permeation and linkage with estates it passes, with only one intermediate access point along the whole route, this issue was observed by numerous individuals and groups as part of the planning process.

A prime example of this was at Gort Na Greine where the existing access point was blocked up with industrial palisade fencing despite the fact that at the time of the development this was a well trodden route.

Within a short period of the fencing being installed a few sections were removed and people were able to ‘unofficially’ use the link again , it was a common sight to see people lifting bikes and even children in pushchairs through the gap in the fence.

The ultimate irony here was the fact that the Gort Na Greine road had an existing cyclepath, the white line can be seen runnign down the center of the footpath  in the picture above.

It was great to hear that this very issue was raised by Cllr. Pa Daly at the November Tralee Municipal District meeting, and that the fencing will be removed and access restored.

 

11. Cllr. P. Daly:
That this Council will construct an official gateway on to the Fenit Walkway from Gort Na Greine.
REPLY:
The existing palisade fence and gate will be removed and a new pedestrian access will be provided to facilitate connectivity between the local
estates and the Walkway
Cllr. P. Daly said that he welcomed this reply

 


Update April 2016

Kerry County Council have finally removed the fencing to allow ‘official’ access onto the greenway from Gort Na Greine and adjoining estates, this is great for linkages along the greenway.

It is surprising that the full fencing was not removed only the part bounding the roadway meaning that pedestrians have to depart the footpath and travel along the roadway, a situation not ideal especially for the elderly, people with pushchairs, and wheelchair users.

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Public talk: Going Dutch – Cian Ginty

This Saturday the biannual Cyclist.ie – The Irish Cycling Advocacy Network will be hosted by the Kerry Cycling Campaign and will feature a public talk by journalist and cycling advocate Cian Ginty.

Last month Cian organised a cycling study tour to the Netherlands for cycling campaigners, elected representatives, council staff and professionals with a focus on cycling. The goal of the trip was to showcase everyday Dutch cycling — from the culture to cycle networks and everything in between.

In the talk Cian with present findings from this trip as well as discussing his website/blog IrishCycle.com

The talk which is free and open to all will take place on Saturday 10th October at 4pm in the Chapel Room, St Patrick’s Center / Tobar Naofa, Moyderwell Tralee [Old Moyderwell convent] and will be followed by a Q&A session.

 

For a taster of what to expect notes of the trip have been published by Phil Skelton of  the Stayin’ Alive at 1.5 campaign and Barbara Connolly Cycling Standard Development Officer with Cycling Ireland


 

Location Map:

Mayor of Kerry leads by example

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Today sees the introduction of fixed charge notices for cycling offences, and with great timing this press photo surfaced this morning featuring the Mayor of Kerry Pat McCarthy and Kerry County Council staff cycling in a pedestrian area, which from today is liable to a €40 on the spot fine.

Cyclist proceeding into a pedestrianised street or area

This offence is likely to cause a lot of issues and uncertainty in locations such as Tralee town square (pictured above)  while the area is pedestrianised it is often used by cyclists to avoid a lengthy trip around the towns one way road system, and highlights how ill-conceived the new system is.

 

 

 

 

Active Travel Tralee

Last year Tralee’s bid to become an Active Travel Town was successful when the town received funding of €1.3million from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTT&S) as part of it’s Smarter Travel initiative with another €900,000 funding coming from the local authority itself bringing the available funding for the project to €2.27 million.

The project is to be developed over 5 phases:

Phase 1 ‐ Appointment of Champion and School Travel Advisor
Phase 2 ‐ Proposed 6km Cycleway
Phase 3 ‐ Introduction of a 30km/h Zone
Phase 4 ‐ Shared Space Concept at the Mall Area
Phase 5 ‐ Proposed Two ‐ Way with cycling and walking facilities at Denny Street

The Active Travel Towns Programme is designed to achieve modal shift from the car to either walking and/or cycling and to encourage greater public transport use through facilitating greater walking and cycling access to public transport.

As part of this project Kerry Co Co have just launched a dedicated website, traleeactivetravel.ie and a promotional video.

The original funding application can been found here and great to see our nascent campaign get a mention in the bid !