Donegal County Council is set to write to Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan to seek more cycleways and walkways in and around local towns and villages.
The need for more safe pathways was heard at Monday’s plenary meeting of the council.
Cllr Liam Doherty and Cllr Michael McClafferty both expressed their concerns for pedestrians and cyclists travelling outside town boundaries.
Cllr McClafferty said that a cycleway from Dunfanaghy to Portnablagh and on to Creeslough would benefit people visiting nearby attractions such as the Wild Atlantic Camp and Ards Forest Park.
“People are unfortunately parking in Creeslough town and walking to the attractions,” Cllr McClafferty told the council
“We need to keep the pressure on Eamon Ryan to see if can we get a cycleway done here. It’s important we get that happening because, if we don’t, we could end up in more dangerous situations and none of us want that to happen.”
Cllr Doherty said it would ‘make sense’ to extend the Active Travel Programme beyond the town boundaries.
In his area, he highlighted that footpaths fall short of reaching the Convoy Centre of Excellence.
“There are some towns where schools are outside the town boundaries and we are encouraging kids and adults to cycle and walk out to schools and around football pitches, it’s very unsafe,” Cllr Doherty said.
“It makes sense that in some cases, where these amenities are, that there are safe paths for walkers and cyclists.”
Bryan Cannon, A/Director of Roads and Transportation, said that the council will write to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, who has responsibility over the NTA and TII.
Mr Cannon said: “Our active gravel and greenway teams do seek to maximise investment in these areas in the county also in other projects that have included active travel type infrastructure such as the recent Dungloe to Glenties cycleway and the cycleway at Mountain Top. We aim to include active travel infrastructure in other projects such as the Letterkenny Southern Network project.”
