Catherine Murphy
Question:
276. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the way that Arthur’s Way can be listed as a cycle route along the Grand Canal towpath and partially on roads in the Celbridge-Leixlip hinterland with a short section in SDCC (details supplied); the barriers there are for inclusion in Sport Ireland's cycling database; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62339/22]
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Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport. As part of its role relating to activities in the outdoors, Sport Ireland maintains the National Trails Register and promotes awareness and useage of recreational trails.
I have accordingly referred the Deputy's question to Sport Ireland for direct reply. I would ask the Deputy to inform my office if a reply is not received within 10 days.
A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51.
I refer to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Minister for Tourism; Culture; Arts; Gaeltacht; Sport and Media 62339/22 regarding Arthurs Lane Cycling Route.
To ask the Minister for Tourism; Culture; Arts; Gaeltacht; Sport and Media the way that Arthur’s Way can be listed as a cycle route along the Grand Canal towpath and partially on roads in the Celbridge-Leixlip hinterland with a short section in SDCC (details supplied); the barriers there are for inclusion in the Sport Ireland Cycling database; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The Minister has asked that Sport Ireland respond to you directly on this matter.
Sport Ireland inspected the trail known as Arthur’s Way in May 2016 against the trails criteria at the time and issued a report on the findings to Kildare County Council. The report identified a number of issues and provided a score achieved for the trail against the criteria. At the time the score achieved was below the required threshold of 70% overall and for a number of headings in the criteria. When the report was issued no response was received from Kildare CC at the time. A response was received two years later in 2018 and this addressed many of the issues that were identified. However, while the trail was partly along the Royal Canal tow path and perfectly suitable for walking and cycling, there remained a concern over the use of some quite busy roads for a substantial part of the trail and their suitability for recreational walking and cycling. Because of this the trail was not added to the National Trails Register at that time.
Since 2018 we have reviewed and revised the criteria for both walking and cycling trails. The new criteria for walking trails was published in 2020 and the new criteria for cycling trails will be published in January 2023. The latter has more specific details on traffic counts and speeds pertaining to designated cycling trails and is in line with best practice. We would propose that the best way forward is to carry out a full reinspection of Arthur’s Way against the new criteria early in 2023. This will ensure that the trail is assessed against the up to date criteria and confirm its suitability or otherwise for both walking and cycling. We will contact Kildare CC in January to organise this.
