‘Sexy’ part of South East Greenway nearing completion as Wexford council confirms funding delays won’t derail project

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Works on the “sexy” part of the South East Greenway are expected to commence this summer as a project which encompasses parts of three counties slowly begins to take shape. Confirming that the section of the trail which will incorporate the Mount Elliott Tunnel and the Red Bridge is now at the design stage, Sean Meyler of Wexford County Council’s special projects team said progressing the overall scheme was incumbent on funding from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

“Works on Phase 2, a 5.5km section from Ferrybank to Curraghmore are now virtually complete,” he said at the December meeting of the New Ross Municipal District (NRMD). “We await completion and handover of an access ramp on the North Quays project to enable us to open this section, and our latest information is that this will happen in January.”

The section which will pass through the tunnel is listed as Lot 4 in the project and is being designed by Fehily Timoney and Company, a civil engineering company based in Co Carlow.

“The tender for that contract is due to be advertised in Q1 of this year with works planned to commence in summer 2026,” said Mr Meyler who added that the trail head at Rosbercon was almost ready to go to planning and would include recreational facilities and a MUGA (multi-use games area) upon completion.

While Councillor Michael Sheehan said the public would be delighted to see the “sexy part of the greenway” finally open when works were complete at the Red Bridge, Mr Meyler sounded a note of caution for those who thought this meant the entire trail was nearing completion.

“Completing the greenway is very much dependent on funding, we don’t have any fear that the project won’t be funded but funding will be restricted on an annual basis,” he advised. “It won’t be a case that we can do everything we want to do when we’re ready to do it. It will be contingent on us receiving the funding from TII.”

This immediately sent alarms bells ringing.

“In what way will funds be restricted?” asked a fearful Cllr Pat Barden. “Is it a case that we won’t be able to finish it or do it to a standard we want?”

However, those fears were quickly allayed.

“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to be funded to do what we want to do,” replied Mr Meyler. “For example this year’s allocation will necessitate us starting the work on Lot 4 at the midway point of 2026, but we won’t have enough money to finish it in the calendar year.

"We’ll spend our allocation by the end of the year and we’ll receive a further budget to continue the works for 2027. TII won’t leave us hanging. It will honour the contract and follow through with the funding. But we do have to stagger the works to align with the funding streams.”

Although the greenway will provide walkers and cyclists with vast expanses of recreational space throughout the year, Cllr Sheehan had concerns about those traversing New Ross’s more urban environs.

“TII is also responsible for active travel,” he noted. “The ring road in New Ross requires significant funding for the upgrading of footpaths, installation of new lighting, and cycle lanes; my understanding is we had received approval to go the design stage for the ring road but I’m suspicious that the money allocated for that project has either dried up or gone elsewhere.

"This would mean TII has no more funding for active travel in New Ross. At the moment if you go walk along the ring road at 8 p.m. there’s no lighting and the footpaths are in bits.”

Accepting Cllr Sheehan’s concerns, director of services Eamonn Hore said he would contact TII to enquire about the status of funding for active travel works.