3 Comments
A Warrenpoint based group hopes to create Ireland's first Cycle Expressway, as part of broader initiatives planned for the Carlingford Lough area, especially the proposed Narrow Water Bridge.
The Narrow Water Bridge Community Network has for many years promoted the Narrow Water Bridge as an essential infrastructural project which will provide a much-needed boost to sustainable tourism development in the South Down area.
In addition to boosting tourism the NWBCN, a cross-community group based in Warrenpoint is convinced that there is a further and critical dimension to the bridge in this era of climate breakdown. If the Narrow Water Bridge is properly integrated with the current Active Travel Strategy, says Adrian O’Hare, the group’s secretary, it will create Ireland's first Cycle Expressway.
Since the project was announced on 15 October last year during a visit to Narrow Water by NI Minister for Infrastructure, Nichola Mallon along with her counterpart on the project, Darragh O’Brien, the NWBCN have continued to actively engage with the community and their political representatives.
Last week they met with Ulster Unionist Assembly hopefuls, Armagh Banbridge & Craigavon Councillor Jill Macauley and her colleague Councillor David Taylor of Newry Mourne & Down as well as Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard and MLA Sinead Ennis .
Among the advantages of fully integrating the Narrow Water Bridge into an ambitious and far-seeing Active Travel Strategy, the NWBCN maintains, is an immediate and cost-effective Active Travel solution. There are also significant savings to the public purse by avoiding unnecessary duplication in the provision of Greenways. The NWBCN proposal also decommissions one of the most dangerous roads in the area and contributes greatly to the "major modal shift" in how we move around that is urgently required if we in this area are to play our part in global emission reduction.
Councillor Macauley said following a presentation at the Whistledown Hotel in Warrenpoint that the group has an impressive and visionary plan for sustainable and active travel, potentially providing a much-needed boost to the local area.
Councillor Taylor said that the group is to be congratulated and hopes that Newry Mourne & Down Council and relevant statutory bodies will engage positively with them to deliver a first class, sustainable and cost effective plan for the local cycle network.
On the climate dimension, Councillor Macauley said, “This sort of forward thinking undoubtedly needs to happen all across Northern Ireland as active travel and our role in combatting climate change has to be facilitated.”
MP Chris Hazzard MP descried the proposal as a “gamechanger” for the local community.
Mr Hazzard said “I was delighted to meet with Narrow Water Bridge Community Network to discuss a radical new vision for Ireland’s first Cycle Expressway along the shores of Carlingford Lough that would connect Warrenpoint, Newry and Cooley Peninsula. This would be an absolute game changer, unlocking huge opportunities for local businesses and tourism in the area.
"With our local community increasingly taking advantage of the world class outdoor space around us, we need to be bold and ambitious in our vision for delivering new, sustainable green infrastructure which helps us meet both local transport needs, and in keeping with our global need to tackle Climate breakdown.
MLA Sinead Ennis added "Not only would this project offer huge health benefits for our people by encouraging a much needed modal shift and increase in active travel; but it would also deliver an affordable commuting option for local workers and families who are increasingly feeling the effects of rising fuel prices.
“We look forward to working with the NWBCN in the time ahead to help deliver such an innovative and exciting project.”
The NWBCN is planning to meet with all political parties in the run-up to the Stormont Elections in May.
