Cllr Oliver Tully has requested that Louth County Council construct a footpath from Drogheda to Baltray. He has put this item on the agenda for the March meeting of Louth County Council. He has stated that this project should from part of the Greenway from Carlingford Lough to the River Boyne at the Town of Drogheda.
The Councillor went on to explain that a large number of people use this scenic route along the River Boyne for walking, running, cycling, bird watching and road bowls on a regular basis. It is an extremely busy regional road (R167) and attracts a large volume of vehicular traffic. It is very narrow in places and has a large number of very severe bends, all of this leaves the road very dangerous for pedestrian. As quoted in the current Louth County Development Plan 2009-2015 paragraph 8.16 Cycling and Walking ‘The Policy document, Sustainable Development; A Strategy for Ireland, identifies the increased provision of cycle paths and safer facilities for pedestrians as a key priority’. A section of the Boyne Road already has an extensive length of footpath constructed from Drogheda Town to where the Port Access Road will intersect it at Tom Roes Point. This section of road requires very little work to complete the footpath infrastructure leaving only the section from Tom Roes point to Baltray to be constructed as a new project.
In reply to Councillor Tully’s motion the officials of Louth County Council have stated that ‘The distance from Baltray to the outskirts of Drogheda is approximately 3.8 km. Land acquisition would be required as the existing road is not sufficiently wide to install a footpath and maintain two-way traffic. Additionally up to 95 lighting columns would be required to upgrade public lighting. Currently there is no funding available to embark on a project of this magnitude’.
