Farmers and contractors in south Kildare have had to divert from using a stretch of the R448 between Moone and Timolin this harvest as a result of a reduction in the width of the road because of a pilot cycleway project.
The cycle route is being installed along a 3.5km stretch of the road at a cost of €1.6m by Kildare County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
Chair of the Moone-Timolin Positive Action Group Mark Hilliard told the Irish Farmers Journal that combines are struggling to use the road because of the works and that larger combines have had to divert from using the road completely.
“Last week, two articulated lorries passed each other and both of them lost wing mirrors, costing €1,200 per mirror to replace.
“A delivery driver who was driving a van to a local café has lost a tyre because of the high kerbs,” he said.
He said that the cycle route is being put “in the middle of nowhere”.
Patrick Nolan, of Belan Agri Contractors in south Kildare, said that the cycle route is a huge issue locally and that the works for the new cycleway are causing a danger to
road users.
He said the front wheel of his combine is “outside the bollard in the middle of the other lane” on a section of the route.
“Two combines met the last day and had to drive over the new kerbs. It’s horrendous that €1.6m is being spent on this.
“They want to take the best road in the county and destroy it.
“This is a health and safety issue,” he said.
Cycle route is a ‘North Korean-style’ project
Mark Hilliard has said that nobody asked for the cycleway and claimed that nobody will use it. “It’s a North Korean-style capital project,” he said.
Hilliard questioned who exactly will use the cycle way.
“By anybody’s standards, it’s a complete and utter white elephant. We’ve had no help from elected representatives – it’s a disaster.
“It’s our desire that the roadway is put back to the way it was or, at the very least, engagement from Kildare County Council. This has been rammed down our throats,” he said.
Local farmer Thomas O’Connor said the route is causing issues for wide farm machinery coming into the village of Moone.
The new concrete kerbing that will form the new cycle lane on the R448 between Moone and Timolin /Justin Lynch
“The biggest fault I’d have with it is that the council and councillors failed to communicate the message to locals.” Eugene Lawler, IFA farm business chair for Kildare, said locals have expressed a lot of concern and said the council needs to come and meet locals as a group.
In a submission to Kildare County Council when the route went to public consultation, the Irish Cycling Campaign, a network of cycling advocates across the country, said it was “generally disappointed at the poor quality of the consultation material presented and the dearth of background context”.
It asked that the council and TII “revisit the general proposed designs for the route”.
In response, Kildare County Council said that the project is a pilot scheme being trialled by the council on behalf of the Department of Transport and TII.
Kildare County Council was contacted for comment in response to the issues raised by the Moone-Timolin Positive Action Group. The group will hold a protest at the cycle route next Friday 15 August.
Patrick Nolan showing how tight the new R448 road width will be. \ Justin Lynch
Farmers and contractors in south Kildare have had to divert from using a stretch of the R448 between Moone and Timolin this harvest as a result of a reduction in the width of the road because of a pilot cycleway project.
The cycle route is being installed along a 3.5km stretch of the road at a cost of €1.6m by Kildare County Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
Chair of the Moone-Timolin Positive Action Group Mark Hilliard told the Irish Farmers Journal that combines are struggling to use the road because of the works and that larger combines have had to divert from using the road completely.
“Last week, two articulated lorries passed each other and both of them lost wing mirrors, costing €1,200 per mirror to replace.
“A delivery driver who was driving a van to a local café has lost a tyre because of the high kerbs,” he said.
He said that the cycle route is being put “in the middle of nowhere”.
Patrick Nolan, of Belan Agri Contractors in south Kildare, said that the cycle route is a huge issue locally and that the works for the new cycleway are causing a danger to
road users.
He said the front wheel of his combine is “outside the bollard in the middle of the other lane” on a section of the route.
“Two combines met the last day and had to drive over the new kerbs. It’s horrendous that €1.6m is being spent on this.
“They want to take the best road in the county and destroy it.
“This is a health and safety issue,” he said.
Cycle route is a ‘North Korean-style’ project
Mark Hilliard has said that nobody asked for the cycleway and claimed that nobody will use it. “It’s a North Korean-style capital project,” he said.
Hilliard questioned who exactly will use the cycle way.
“By anybody’s standards, it’s a complete and utter white elephant. We’ve had no help from elected representatives – it’s a disaster.
“It’s our desire that the roadway is put back to the way it was or, at the very least, engagement from Kildare County Council. This has been rammed down our throats,” he said.
Local farmer Thomas O’Connor said the route is causing issues for wide farm machinery coming into the village of Moone.
The new concrete kerbing that will form the new cycle lane on the R448 between Moone and Timolin /Justin Lynch
“The biggest fault I’d have with it is that the council and councillors failed to communicate the message to locals.” Eugene Lawler, IFA farm business chair for Kildare, said locals have expressed a lot of concern and said the council needs to come and meet locals as a group.
In a submission to Kildare County Council when the route went to public consultation, the Irish Cycling Campaign, a network of cycling advocates across the country, said it was “generally disappointed at the poor quality of the consultation material presented and the dearth of background context”.
It asked that the council and TII “revisit the general proposed designs for the route”.
In response, Kildare County Council said that the project is a pilot scheme being trialled by the council on behalf of the Department of Transport and TII.
Kildare County Council was contacted for comment in response to the issues raised by the Moone-Timolin Positive Action Group. The group will hold a protest at the cycle route next Friday 15 August.
Patrick Nolan showing how tight the new R448 road width will be. \ Justin Lynch
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