Plans for a potential cycle lane between Dungarvan and Youghal have been described as 'utter madness'.
A public information event will be held at the Park Hotel Dungarvan today to discuss the proposed Youghal to Dungarvan Cycle Route.
Cllr. Damien Geoghegan is among those in opposition to the proposal.
"People should maybe go and take a look at what actually is proposed", said Cllr. Geoghegan. "I personally think that the money that's being spent on this proposal is actually money that's being wasted right now. I say that as somebody who has been and continues to be a massive supporter of the greenway here in Watford and the implementation and the provision of that greenway."
"The reason that was such a success was that we were able to put it down onto a disused rail line so the route was actually there. There was never a rail line between Dungarvan and Youghal and there were very good reasons for that. I mean you just have to look at the topography of the land there and trying to get from Dungarvan to Youghal involves climbing quite a distance out of Dungarvan."
The proposed Dungarvan to Youghal Cycle Route has proved a bone of contention for many in West Waterford in recent weeks.
Cllr. Geoghegan says many of the plans coming from the Department of Transport at present are not feasible.
"The proposal by Minister Eamon Ryan to put a cycle lane between Dungarvan and Youghal and to spend hundreds of thousands on a consultant's report before a shovel even goes into the ground to my mind is unacceptable at a time when we need money spent on our roads and our footpaths. I mean when you get as far as Kinsalebeg for example, people can see just how narrow the road gets there. I mean how are you going to cater for a cycle lane in addition to the heavy traffic that we see there?!", said Cllr. Geoghegan.
Cllr. Geoghegan has urged the Minister of Transport to take a look at the route himself.
"Youghal Bridge is a bottleneck. Minister Ryan and his officials and his advisors kind of need to come down and they need to drive between Dungarvan and Youghal to see exactly what's what's being proposed here and I think it's just a case of they want to tick a box and be able to say that all of the cities in Ireland are linked by cycleways or greenways."
"Our Greenway between Dungarvan and Waterford is a tremendous success but to come along and spend further millions on trying to implement a scheme where we'd see a cycle lane between Dungarvan and Youghal, to my mind it's utter madness."
