BAD weather in recent months has pushed back the opening of the much-anticipated extension to the Clare O’Leary Walk in Bandon until May, according to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).
The N71 Glasslyn Road/ Clare O’Leary Walk active travel scheme, which is being funded by TII at a cost of €3.5m – including land acquisition as well as planning and design costs – is about two months behind the original timeline, having commenced last August.
It will comprise a 2.8km-long, three-metre-wide ‘shared active travel’ facility with a tarmacadam finish and runs from the 60km/hr limit on the outskirts of Bandon on the N71 towards Innishannon.
It will also include the widening and upgrading of 1.7km of the existing walk, along with the constructions of a new 1.1km link to Bandon. Once both schemes are completed, it will create a 4.5km active travel and recreational route leading from Innishannon to Bandon, which will also connect to the existing Graham Norton Riverwalk.
A TII spokesperson said that several factors, including the inclement weather in both January and February, slowed down progress.
‘Two reinforced soil embankments had to be built to align with guidelines and address the challenges posed by the terrain and topography in the area,’ they said.
‘One embankment supports the active travel lane, while the other is necessary to rebuild an access road and improve sightlines for a nearby property.’
The spokesperson added that the first embankment is nearly finished, with 95% of the work complete. The second embankment is scheduled to begin in mid-March and is expected to take around four weeks to complete
‘Other activities, such as drainage installation, ducting, fencing, kerbing and landscaping are progressing smoothly. It is expected that 90% of the active travel route will have a finished tarmacadam surface completed by mid-March.’
At a recent meeting of Bandon Kinsale Municipal District, Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) queried why the scheme was taking so long and claimed it was causing extra traffic delays along the N71. He said it had been ‘over-engineered’ and that large volumes of soil were being removed, only to be replaced by quarried stones.
Council officials told him that it is a project being carried out by TII and they did not have the exact costs or timescales of the project.
Bandon woman and adventurer Clare O’Leary was the first Irish woman to climb Mount Everest and complete the Seven Summits. In 2012 Dr O’Leary was named as one of Ireland’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women and was awarded the Trailblazer Award by the Women’s Executive Network.
