Over 10,000 public submissions on Athlone to Galway cycleway routes

The five-week consultation period on route options for the Athlone to Galway cycleway ended last week, with the level of engagement from the public exceeding all expectations.

Project manager Michael Kelly said there was a "huge" response to the consultation process, with thousands of public submissions on the five potential route corridors that had been outlined for the cycleway.

In total, more than 10,000 submissions on the project were received from individuals and groups

Mr Kelly said those working on the project had not been expecting such a large volume of submissions, and they would now be working through them and preparing to meet with landowners along the various route corridors once Covid restrictions ease.

"We will not be picking a preferred route corridor until we've given the project liaison officers and the landowners time to engage face-to-face, when Covid allows us to do so. Hopefully in the next 4-6 weeks we can start that process.

"Private land acquisition is a big element within this, and we want to understand what people are thinking within the various corridors.

"Some may be in favour, some may be against, and some may be neutral, but we have to explore that and have that conversation."

He said it had been hoped that the process of meeting landowners in person could have started last Friday (March 5) but that's now been delayed due to the ongoing Level 5 restrictions.

This will mean the announcement of the preferred route corridor, originally due in late July or August, will also be delayed, and is now expected in September or thereabouts.

In several communities, including Shannonbridge and Ballinasloe, there were active local campaigns calling for the cycleway route to include their locality.

"I'd say the majority, over 90%, of the public submissions have been positive," said Mr Kelly.

"For four of the five routes there were ongoing online campaigns, on Facebook or on websites, to promote the routes and there's been a lot of engagement from communities that way."

He added that some local TDs and Senators had also held online community meetings, on Zoom, to discuss the project and allow questions to be asked of the project team, and these had been well-attended also.

"All of the communities on the various corridors are looking for the cycleway, and understandably so. I think that's positive," said Mr Kelly.

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are going to be disappointed, but we can only go on one line."

The five possible route corridors for the cycleway could see it veer as far north as Mountbellew, or as far south as Portumna and Gort.

The Shannonbridge Action Group has been calling for 'Route 4', which would bring the cycleway into the Offaly village, while in Ballinasloe there has been strong support for Route 3, which includes the town.

Another route - Route 2 - would run parallel to the Athlone to Galway railway line, but there appears to be less public support for this option.