A new ‘greyway’ has been proposed for South Kilkenny.
Cllr Fidelis Doherty made the suggestion at this week’s meeting of the County Council.
The Fine Gael representative has been outlining the idea to KCLR saying “A Blueway is in relation to a river, a Greenway is in relation to used railway lines so a Greyway would be using part of a road that’s now a regional road which goes from Glenmore roundabout into New Ross, it used to be the N25 it’s now the R723, so I was just proposing that because the road was so wide there’s maybe part of it or all of it on both sides maybe could be used as a grey way”.
Since the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Bridge was opened there, this significant section of the N25 has fallen under the remit of the County Council.
Concerns had previously been raised about the costs for the local authority to maintain the route.
But Cllr Doherty says turning it into a ‘greyway’ could entitle them to other forms of transport funding, noting “The roadway is quite wide as it always has been but because it would take a lot to maintain it and allocation would need to come from central government for it, maybe under active travel and smarter travel you could have a safe piece of roadway so it’s like you could use it both sides with people going in and out, people could cycle safely there’s an 80km speed limit on that piece of road anyway, the Glenmore roundabout which is the end section of the New Ross Bypass”.
She adds “With the greenway opening up in 2022 you’d have people that would cycle out the greenway and come back in the greyway, or vice versa, you’d have a lovely loop out from New Ross to Glenmore, come off there at Ballyvourneen in the carpark and come out onto what is now the regional road, the R723, so you could have people that could cycle safely and it’d be a nice addition to the area”.
