Limerick City and County Council awarded €10 million grant funding from the National Transport Authority

LIMERICK City and County Council has received a grant approval of €10 million from the National Transport Authority (NTA) for stimulus funding for the metropolitan area of Limerick.

The funding was as a result of an application under the Active Travel Measures Allocation announced in the Jobs Stimulus Plan by Government on July 23, with works to commence immediately.

Under an equivalent programme, Limerick City and County Council has also made an application for funding for similar measures to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) which will consider measures in the non-metropolitan area. The council is awaiting confirmation of this grant.

The Green Party councillor for Limerick City North, Saša Novak Uí Chonchúir, has welcomed the funding, calling it a “huge investment for Limerick” saying it is “representative of this government’s commitment to active travel in Limerick”.

“When these works are completed by the end of the year, Limerick will be a much safer place for everyone to walk and cycle to school and to work,” she said.

Works are planned for Mayorstone/Greystones, Thomondgate, Ballynanty, Caherdavin, Coonagh, Condell Road, Castletroy, Annacotty, Dooradoyle and the city centre. The largest projects are the upgrade of cycle lane facilities along St. Nessan’s Road in Dooradoyle (€1.25m) and the cycle lanes along the Condell Road (€1.1m).

“Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan is deeply aware of the need to transform Limerick’s transport infrastructure and I’ve been working alongside Cllr Seán Hartigan and Brian Leddin TD to encourage the Minister to invest in Limerick,” Cllr Saša Novak Uí Chonchúir added.

The Green Party Councillor concluded by saying she was “delighted that these works are starting”, saying she understands “further investment from the Minister will be forthcoming for the towns and villages in County Limerick”.

Sinn Féin TD, Maurice Quinlivan also welcomed the grant announcement, saying it is “great news and will see work taking place across Limerick”.

“I’m particularly pleased that Ballynanty, Mayorstone and Greystone will get €900,000 to ensure the provision of improved and widened footpaths to facilitate pedestrians. Thomondgate will benefit from €350,000 for similar projects. These areas have many older citizens living in them and the state of disrepair of much of the road and footpath infrastructure in these areas has continued for far too long” Said Deputy Maurice Quinlivan.

The Sinn Féin TD noted the significance of Kennedy Park and Janesboro benefiting from almost €840,000  for footpath upgrades and improvements, with junctions improvements to facilitate improved pedestrian safety.

“This is long overdue as many of the footpaths in these areas have basically disintegrated over the years.

This investment, for which Sinn Féin has campaigned over the last number of years, will be much appreciated by residents across Limerick and will give a much-welcome uplift to the areas where funding has been secured,” The Sinn Féin representative added.

Deputy Quinlivan noted the €400,000 in funding for Caherdavin “will be a great boost to the area.

“Broken footpaths, poor road repairs and maintenance are all unfortunately way too common across many parts of the Metropolitan area of Limerick. Whilst we have had years of neglect to catch up on, we can truly make these areas much better places to live in with this funding. It will provide both a local stimulus as people will be employed in these works whilst local communities will be improved and enhanced.

“The combination of funding for roads and building and upgrading cycle infrastructure is particularly welcomed. We are committed to ensuring that as many of these works start as soon as possible and are completed within the shortest possible timeframe.”