The Journal.ie announced on Friday that Fingal County Council has announced that planning permission had been issued for a new coastal cycling route and pedestrian path linking Baldyole and Portmarnock.
New shiny cycling paths are always good news because they benefit cyclists, pedestrians and car users and make life safer for everyone involved and when all is finished the new piece will allow a continuous link between Baldoyle and Malahaide. That’s even better news.
But there is a shocking aspect to that great announcement: The price for that new piece is indicated as in the region of EUR 2.5 mio. Well, 2.5 mio is not too bad for a good piece of cycling path AND pedestrian path, but then I read the article again and discovered that the distance is “nearly 2km”. WOW! More than 1.25 mio per kilometer!?!?
And then the Director for planning and strategic infrastructure at Fingal Council is quote with “The Baldoyle to Portmarnock route is the first phase of a major initiative to provide a Greenway along the entire coastline of Fingal.” The entire coastline of Fingal is 88km long, Does that mean they have EUR 110mio to spend on a cycling path? Or does it mean: It’s a great idea but it will never happen?
The article in the Journal.ie is here: www.thejournal.ie/north-dublin-coastal-4152556-Jul2018/
