Multi-million euro benefit of 16k cycle path connecting Rosses Point and Strandhill highlighted

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

The economic benefits of the proposed “Sligo Seaway” were outlined at the April meeting of Sligo County Council with a report compiled by Morley Economic Consulting on behalf of Strandhill Community Development Association highlighting the benefits of the proposed 16km cycle path which will ultimately connect Strandhill and Rosses Point via Sligo town.

Speaking to his motion, Cllr Fergal Nealon paid tribute to Ken Russell who was present in the Council Chamber for the debate and was described as “one of the main driving forces” behind the Sligo Seaway route. The comprehensive report highlights the potential to the local economy of the proposed cycle path with some of the key findings predicting upwards of €40m user expenditure, €38m exchequer revenue and some 8000 FTE jobs are anticipated over 25 years, driven by over 200,300 users.

Cllr Nealon’s motion called on the local authority to “Support the creation of a fully protected segregated cycle path connecting Rosses Point to Sligo town. The first part of a proposed ‘Sligo Seaway’ route which will eventually form part of a fully protected multi-purpose route of approximately 16km connecting Strandhill to Rosses Point via Sligo town.”

Cllr Nealon stated the cycle path would all be on Council owned land and is listed as a priority in the Council’s current development plan.

Noting the 92% support for the proposed Seaway cycle path Cllr Nealon commented, “Not only does it have active travel benefits but there are huge travel benefits."

The motion was also supported by Cllr Thomas Walsh who commented, “It would be a wonderful project for the county linking two busy and popular seaside resorts to town.”

Cllr Ann Higgins also voiced her support for the motion saying, “To get as many people as possible out of cars would be great. All the research shows if you provide segregated cycle lanes it encourages more people to use them.”

Cllr Marie Casserly also offered her support but sounded a word of caution when she said, “This was a motion proposed by myself in 2021. Apart from a feasibility study it hasn’t moved too far along. It is a vital piece of infrastructure. I think it should be a standalone project aside from active travel. I hope funding will be allocated and supported as quickly as possible.”

Cllr Edel McSharry also voiced her support for the motion and the cycle path commenting, “The research done is quite extensive. Having the link coast to coast is a motivation to cycle.”

Cllr McSharry referred to the fact that securing funding via the Active Travel scheme is a slow one, asking, “Is there any other way to progress the project?”

Cllr Declan Bree also gave his backing to the motion saying, “The executive has indicated funding under the Active Travel Scheme is already earmarked. I think this project deserves to be prioritised. Given the business case presented I think it would be money well spent.”

Echoing those sentiments, Cllr Barry Gallagher asked, “Is there any other avenue where funding can be looked at to push it through.”

Cllr Gino O’Boyle was fully supportive of the motion when he said, “I think it should be a high priority.”

Also in support of the motion was Cllr Arthur Gibbons who remarked, “Cycling has become very popular because it is there for everyone. Look at the price of fuel, that will entice more people to take up cycling. It would be brilliant to have a specific cycle lane. This is an excellent motion, I 100% support it. We should go after it hammer and tongs. We need to act as soon as we can to try to get funding.”

Councillors Thomas Healy, Dara Mulvey and Donal Gilroy also offered their support for the motion.

Cllr Fergal Nealon thanked his fellow Councillors for their overwhelming support adding, “Cllr Casserly said there was overwhelming support in 2021. Let it be said today, it’s the will of this Chamber that this goes through. If it happens to be at the bottom of a pot for Active Travel let’s look and see if there are other pots. Let’s be really pro-active. The chamber has spoken and it is key to note while Strandhill and Rosses Point can boom in summer time this is going to bring footfall into town from these resorts, it has huge economic benefits all round.”

The debate concluded with Sligo County Council Chief Executive Martin Lydon expressing the view that, “It is really good to have pipeline projects. You’ve got a number of pipeline projects that depending on which month it is are priority for the Council to deliver. We can’t deliver everything and that’s where the answer was coming from. I’m quite happy if a funding mechanism becomes available in relation to delivering the project.

"What I will also say is, If you look at the three year capital plan that was put before you as part of the budget process, you’ll see there is nearly a quarter of a billion euro to be spent. There is also match funding to be found so what we need to be honest about here is an Active Travel project is 100% funding. If we move into something like Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (RRDF), that becomes between 10% and 25% match funding. I will be coming back to you as part of the budget process saying, are you interested in increasing rates again to help deliver these type of projects, because our match funding, we are going to be at the maximum that we can afford in relation to a loan repayment scheme."

"It is going to come down to choices and we already put funding applications in place for in the region of €50-60m match funding. On top of that, the economic situation that we are facing ourselves at the current time, we have to make sure that we still deliver what we need to deliver at the moment. These are the considerations that are probably going to be coming back to yourselves but I do think it is great to have projects like this in the pipeline but unfortunately I am in the position of not over promising because we have to deliver what we have already been told we have to deliver.”

Article Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.