WORK is progressing at a steady pace on a new €630,000 cycleway and walkway in Killarney which will provide a continuous pathway connection between the national park at Knockreer and the park at Muckross.
At a presentation by Kerry County Council officials to local councillors in December, it was explained that site clearance is well underway and the groundwork is being laid for the route along the banks of the River Flesk.
The cycleway will run from Killarney Racecourse along a route being developed at the rear of houses at Castle Falls on Ross Road and the Priory Paddocks before cutting through the Maurice O’Donoghue Memorial Park and existing on Muckross Road close to Flesk Bridge.
The land required for the project was purchased from Killarney Race Company Ltd and a private landowner in 2016 and the required public consultation phase concluded in December of 2017.
The route runs through the townlands of Woodlawn, Bunrower, Scrahane and Demesne and the proposed works will consist of the construction of a 2.5m wide cycleway and walkway.
Funding of €450,000 was secured from the Department of Transport for the first phase of the works which involves the demolition of the old stables on a section of lands acquired from Killarney Race Company, the construction of boundary walls, fences and accommodation works and the completion of all earthworks.
Further funding, of the order of €208,000, is required in 2021 to complete the project and that phase will include the surfacing of the cycleway, signage and measures to control the usage of the cycleway.
It is hoped that the project will benefit from a contribution from a major €50 million investment in walking and cycling projects in town and villages across the country which was announced by the government in December.
The fund is open to all areas in Kerry for applications through Kerry County Council.
It has also been confirmed that a number of new cycle lanes are to be developed in Killarney at an estimated cost of €5 million.
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