West Mayo active travel project welcomed

PLANS for the Deerpark active travel scheme in Westport have received a positive response from the public.

The €1.5 million project will be moving to the formal Part 8 planning process in February, with construction to start towards Quarter 4 of this year.

Local councillors, who welcomed the project, which will improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and enhance connectivity on the N59 Newport Road in Westport, received a presentation about the scheme at their monthly municipal meeting.

There will be improvements at the King's Hill/Cedar Hill and Pinewoods/Deerpark East junctions, with two new bus stops as well.

Public responses were highly positive, with requests to extend the scheme to the Golf Course Road and Horkan's Hill.

Councillor Flynn said it was fantastic news, though he was disappointed it didn't encompass Holy Trinity NS and Scoil Padraic. These, he was told, fall under a Safer Routes to School scheme and the tender process there is ongoing.

He wondered why the schemes ran independently when it made sense to combine them.

On active travel generally, he commented how they have seen numerous announcements but little project delivery in areas and he felt the process of delivery needs to be reviewed and speeded up at national level.

Councillor Brendan Mulroy said they needed to talk to the bus company so that when the stops are put in place, the bus would run immediately to Achill.

The NTA were looking at potential new stops into the future as demand increases, he was told, and this location was identified as an ideal spot that might be needed in the future.