The official opening of the Bilberry link of the Waterford Greenway has taken place today.
The new addition means the Greenway now extends into Waterford City Centre.
The opening took place today, with the ribbon cutting by the Mayor of Waterford, Cllr. John O'Leary and Minister for Mental Health & Older People, Mary Butler.
Mayor O'Leary said this is a momentous day for Waterford.
"We stand here on a beautiful summer's morning on the Waterford Greenway's Bilberry to Waterford City link. I do hope that we will now see the fruits of the labour of Waterford City and County Council, the Active Travel team and the National Transport Authority. We will use this wonderful piece of infrastructure to rediscover the joys of active travel."
Director of Services with Waterford Council, Fergus Galvin, says the creation of the link has been a major ambition since the Greenway was first established in 2016.
"It's the fulfilment of a long-held ambition by the Council since we opened the Greenway back in 2016", he said. "The missing link has always been that last couple of kilometres from Bilberry into the city centre. This is really a fabulous day for Waterford because it provides that final link in. We are delighted with the really high-quality standard of this project and we're hoping that the city will now benefit from the Greenway in the way that the likes of Dungarvan have."
These sentiments were echoed by the Metropolitan Mayor of Waterford, Cllr. Jason Murphy, who said it is time for the city to reap the benefits that the Greenway has to offer.
"The Greenway has been one of the major successes of Waterford for the past ten years. There's always been a perception out there that the city hasn't always got the bang for buck out of the Greenway like other places have. There's been a regeneration of places like Dungarvan, Kilmacthomas and Durrow. I think we will now finally see people in the city taking ownership of this wonderful amenity."
Green Party TD for Waterford, Marc O'Cathasaigh, says this is just the beginning of a number of exciting projects that will revitalise the area.
"It's another good news day for Waterford and we've been very lucky to have a number of them recently. Dungarvan has reaped huge benefits of the Greenway linking right into the centre of the town - that was missing here in Waterford City. Today, we're opening the link from Bilberry into the city centre that will eventually connect with the sustainable transport bridge and you will land in an integrated transport hub on the North Quays. I want to see a situation where tourists are coming here in their droves, stepping off the train and straight onto a Greenway."
The total contract sum comes to €6,837,511.08 (ex VAT) with the pending works contract expected to run for 18 months, which suggests the project ought to be fully delivered by March 2023. This would roughly coincide with the projected opening of the 24km South East Greenway, running from Waterford to New Ross, upon which work is already well underway.
The Sustainable Transport Bridge (STB), which is set to connect the North and South Quays, will also double as a regional, inter-county greenway link.
