€7m boost for Athlone Bridge Cycleway project

The full completion of the Athlone Castle to the Marina cycleway project, which encompasses the construction of a bridge over the river Shannon, was given a massive boost last week when the Department of Transport, in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), announced an allocation of €7m for the project.

The funding announcement for Athlone was made as part of the national road and Greenways funding allocations to local authorities for 2022.

Overall, Westmeath County Council received an allocation of over €15 million from the overall total of €676 million allocated to all local authorities for Greenways and also for the maintenance and improvement of the road network in each county.

By far the largest Greenway funding allocation in Westmeath is for the Athlone Bridge cycleway, which will link Athlone Castle directly to the Marina, which has been earmarked for funding totalling €7 million.

The second biggest allocation (€1,500,000) for Greenway infrastructure in Athlone goes to the Galway to Athlone section of the overall Dublin to Galway cycleway project. The funding announcement points out that this section of Greenway is at the”concept, feasibility and route selection” phase and the number of kilometres has yet to be determined.

Work on the construction of the new cycleway bridge over the river Shannon has already begun, with the project earmarked for completion by Easter 2023.

A contract worth in the region of €13 million was signed with Meath-based Jons Civil Engineering Ltd, for the massive project, which includes cantilevered boardwalks on both sides of the river.

Meanwhile, the official opening of the new White Gates to the Athlone Marina section of the Greenway took place in October.