New Mayo greenway bridge unlikely to open until next summer

The bridge project on the Turlough Greenway project is expected to be fully completed next year.

At a meeting of Mayo's tourism SPC, Councillor Michael Kilcoyne asked for an update on whether the project, which is currently under construction, will be completed this year.

Located in the townlands of Turlough and Gortnafolla, the bridge will provide an alternative safe access route for greenway users to Turlough village and for the local community who wish to use the greenway.

Padraig Philbin, head of tourism, said they are still working on it with the municipal district but the bridge is fabricated and ready to be lifted in.

He noted there were delays with the project, mainly due to materials begin difficult to source, but was hopeful the entire project would be finished by next summer.

“Once we have people on ground, we'll start on the remaining bits,” said Mr. Philbin.

Councillor Kilcoyne responded that this had been going on for a couple of years now and he saw no reason why the bridge can't be put in place shortly.

“It's not the Golden Gate you're building,” said the councillor.

Mr. Philbin said while the bridge is a quick operation, it would not be ready for anyone to travel on it until next summer due to remaining works in the project on the road and path.