No planning bid for Athlone to Portumna cycleway until 2028

Construction work on the next section of the Athlone to Galway cycleway will not be starting any time soon, after it emerged that a planning application for the project is now not expected to be submitted until 2028.

The opening of the new Athlone cycleway bridge, in August 2023, was seen as a landmark moment in the development of the national, off-road Dublin to Galway cycle route.

But while the route’s infrastructure east of the Shannon has now been put in place, the development of the westward section has been hampered by number of setbacks over the years.

Last April, it was announced that the Athlone to Galway cycleway was being split into two separate projects.

Westmeath County Council will be managing the development of the first, 83km, section from Athlone to Portumna, via Shannonbridge.

Galway County Council will be looking after the remaining 114km section from Portumna to Ballyloughane, on the outskirts of Galway city.

In response to a recent query from this newspaper, Westmeath County Council said a range of environmental evaluations would need to be carried out “over multiple seasons” before planning permission could be sought for the Athlone to Portumna section.

As a result, it said it did not anticipate the planning application being completed for at least another three years.

“To progress the project, Galway County Council and Westmeath County Council jointly established a multi-party framework agreement in September 2024 for the provision of technical consultancy services for Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the Galway to Athlone National Cycleway,” stated the council.

“Westmeath County Council are currently undertaking a process to capture any recent developments in relation to policy and the delivery of greenway projects.

“This process will assist with the preparation of a Brief of Services to be incorporated into the future call off contract to be procured as part of the recently established multi-party framework for technical consultancy services for Phase 3 and Phase 4.

“Westmeath County Council anticipate that new consultants will commence the technical consultancy services for Phases 3, Design and Environmental Evaluation, and Phase 4, Statutory Processes, on the Athlone Castle to Portumna section, subject to the required approvals, in 2025.

“It is anticipated that the planning application for this section of the scheme will be submitted in 2028 as the timelines necessary to carry out the required environmental evaluation are over multiple seasons,” concluded the local authority’s statement.

The preferred route for the Galway to Athlone cycleway was announced in March of 2023.

However, later that year, the main consultants working on the project, RPS, stepped away from it because the firm said its involvement was “no longer financially viable”.

The cycleway development has also attracted opposition from some rural landowners in East Galway.