Over €14m in Active Travel investment grants for Meath County Council

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD today confirmed that the National Transport Authority (NTA) has allocated funds to Ireland’s local authorities with a view to spending €290m on walking and cycling infrastructure in 2023.

This substantial investment will fund approximately 1,200 Active Travel projects, contributing to the development of almost 1,000km of new and improved walking and cycling infrastructure across the country by 2025. This includes the development of segregated cycle lanes and widened footpaths, new walking and cycling bridges, and new pedestrian crossings.

Meath’s allocation of €14,135,000 is very welcome and, outside of the four Dublin local authorities, and Cork and Limerick, it is the highest allocation to a county from this year’s funding. The allocation is spread across 38 different projects, which you can see in detail below.

In total there is over €7m funding for schemes in Navan. €3m is for the ongoing Navan 2030 works at Kennedy Plaza, while €1m is allocated for the new LDR4 bridge from the Kells Road to Ratholdren Road.

For cycling, the majority of the funding is for ongoing schemes which are in various states of planning, such as the Trim Road Cycle Scheme, the R147 Kells Road Scheme and the R147 Martha’s Bridge to Circular Road Scheme.

It is also great to see the ‘Flower Hill Pedestrian and Cycle Scheme’ included, for which consultants have already been appointed for concept and feasibility work. The ‘Johnstown Village Cycle Scheme’ is a new one, as is the inclusion of the Pathfinder Project on the R161 Trim Rd, and we will provide updates on these once they are available.

Other notable schemes to receive funding include the Ratoath Town Network, the Dunboyne Cycle Network, Eastham Road Cycle Facilities (Bettystown), Ashbourne R135 Southern section, and a total of six Safe Routes to School schemes in various locations.