Design team chosen to work on first Laois greenway
Cycle path planned from Portlaoise to Kilkenny border
The plan to build the first greenway in Laois has moved a step ahead this month.
Laois is playing catch-up to other counties like Waterford and Mayo that attract thousands of visitors to cycle their old train lines as greenways, funded by millions of euros in state grants.
However a design team has now been selected after a tendering process, Laois County Council has confirmed.
The first Laois greenway is planned on the old train line between Portlaoise and Attanagh on the Kilkenny border, through Abbeyleix, a distance of some 25km.
"A tender for the appointment of a design team to undertake a feasibility study for the Portlaoise to Attanagh Greenway, has been completed. TII approval is anticipated and the design team will commence the study thereafter," the council stated at their April 27 meeting.
Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald welcomed the progress.
"I'm delighted to see in the Manager's report about the Portlaoise Attanagh greenway. At least we have a start. It will be on the old railway line between Portlaoise and Kilkenny. I think it's great news to get that started. We've very little greenways in our county. This one from Portlaoise to Attanagh will be absolutely fantastic. That's good news," she said.
The plan is going back years with little progress to date. It is three years since Laois County Council promised to examine the feasibility of greenways in the county, when Cllr Ollie Clooney asked them for a greenway from Abbeyleix to Attanagh.
Of the €62 million allocated for Greenway projects across Ireland this year, just €50,000 was designated for Laois, to pay for the feasibility study on the potential for the Greenway from Portlaoise to Abbeyleix.
The old Laois Kilkenny train line opened in 1867, when the Waterford & Kilkenny Railway extended its line northwards through Abbeyleix, Durrow, and on to Portlaoise, following the route of the Kilkenny Junction Railway operated by the Great Southern & Western Railway architecture. It closed in 1962.
Laois has one section of a blueway, and another under phased construction. The 120km Barrow Way passes through Vicarstown along the Grand Canal, while Portlaoise town is midway through construction of the Triogue river blueway to offer safe cycling and walking through the town centre to schools.