Dublin councils to receive over €123 million to develop active travel infrastructure

Dublin councils are set to receive over €123 million to develop active travel infrastructure as part of the NTA’s Active Travel Investment Grants 2023.

Announced last week, Dublin City Council has been allocated €59,850,000 while South Dublin County Council will receive just over €22 million and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council nearly €25 million.

Fingal County Council has been allocated just over €17 million.

The funding will largely go towards developing cycle lanes, the widening of footpaths, new walking and cycling bridges, and new pedestrian crossings.

The €290 million scheme, which was announced by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, will help fund around 1,200 projects across the country.

Overall, almost 1,000 km of new and improved walking and cycling infrastructure is set to be developed by 2025.

Green Party councillor for Clontarf, Donna Cooney said the allocation will help ease traffic on busy roads across the city.

“What this allocation means in practice is that it’s easier for our children to cycle to school without being driven, it means we can walk to our local shop more safely and it means we all spend less time stuck in traffic jams,” she said.

“The end result is that we are a little healthier and happier overall.”

Making the announcement, Minister Eamon Ryan said: “The foundation of our transport strategy is to provide significant support for safe and sustainable travel.

“Our strategy is focused on local people and helping them connect with their local community.

“We plan to reduce our emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and increasing the number of greenways, cycleways and walkways is a crucial step towards achieving this.

“We have seen many times that once greenways are built, they become very popular, so this is certainly money well spent.”

Some of the larger projects set to receive funding under the scheme are the Royal Canal Greenway which has been allocated €5 million, the Liffey Cycle Route which has been allocated €1.8 million, the Fairview to Amiens Street Cycle Route which has been allocated €27 million and the Dodder Greenway Herbert Park which will get €3.7 million.

In South Dublin County, the Dodder Greenway Section Four has been granted €4 million while the Kilnarden Park and Greenway Scheme will get €2 million.

The St Cronin’s Road rapid build active travel scheme in Fingal has been allocated nearly €1.4 million while the Stillorgan Park Road Active Travel Scheme in DLR was given €3 million, and the Merion Gates to Seapoint Cycle Scheme €1.2 million.