Navan Cycling Initiative are holding a public meeting to discuss active travel on Navan’s Ratholdren Road

We’d like better walking and cycling facilities in the Ratholdren Road area – and we need YOUR help!

Navan’s Ratholdren Road is the location of the largest public park in the town, has three schools, the town’s only public leisure centre, a large residential population, and will soon be the location of the southernmost trailhead of the excellent new Boyne Valley to Lakelands County (BVLC) Greenway, which is due to be open in Navan before the end of 2022.

We need active travel measures and rapid deployment of cycling infrastructure on Ratholdren Road to ensure safe access to schools, reduce traffic and connect with the business centre of Navan before the new greenway opens.

We’d like to present the current plans for the area, listen to your views and ideas, and try to identify what solutions could work (or rule out options that don’t!). Ultimately, we’d like to bring a funding proposal to Meath County Council, so they can implement improvements rapidly.

Please register for free by clicking HERE. The meeting takes place on Wednesday 21 September 2022 at St Paul’s School, from 8-9pm, and is open to all

Ratholdren Road is included in the plans for the Navan Cycle Network (part of the overall planned GDA Cycle Network Plan – see here for more), first published in 2013, yet despite this Meath County Council have no plans in the foreseeable future to put them in place. Navan Cycling Initiative have exhaustively reviewed other potential locations for accelerated delivery of active travel projects, and no other area comes close to realising the level of benefits that this project will deliver.

The rapid deployment of cycling infrastructure on Ratholdren Road will:

• Make it safe to cycle to the three major schools in the area: St Paul’s Primary School, Scoil Naomh Eoin and St. Oliver Plunkett’s National School
• Encourage more people to make the move to sustainable transport and significantly reduce traffic in the area
• Ensure families and children can cycle safely to the new BVLC Greenway
• Provide a connection from the greenway to the central business area of Navan, which will bring business and overnight visitors to our shops and restaurants
• Provide a safe route to Blackwater Park and to Aura Leisure Centre