Wexford cycle lane costing more than entire budget for Rosslare roads – ‘Are we being made eejits of here?’
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/wexford/wexford-district/wexford-cycle-lane-costing-more-than-entire-budget-for-rosslare-roads-are-we-being-made-eejits-of-here/a1897420790.html
Posted by demonspawns_ghost
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>As the cycle lane on the Newtown Road in Wexford town begins to take shape those in the county’s hinterlands have questioned the amount of money being spent on this new infrastructure. With an estimated cost of €3m, more will be spent on the cycle lane than the entire annual roads budget for the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD), something which cathaoirleach of the district, Councillor Jim Codd, said has left him ”reeling”.
>“We have 640km to maintain in this district and we get €2.1m for road restoration, this enables us to restore 16km every year,” he said. “Meanwhile the cycle track on the Newtown Road, which cost €3m, covers 1.3km. Are we being made eejits of here? The main road between Taghmon and Foulksmills is falling apart, alloys are being cracked on cars, but we can take solace in the €3m cycle lane that’ll always be there to lift our spirits.
You know why cycle lanes are so expensive? Because they replace all the piping and wiring underneath it while they’re at it. It’s not “the cycle lane” that’s costly, it’s the ancillary work that gets done at the same time. Which of course *should be* done.
Is this the same situation as the work in Fairview / Clontarf Rd / North Strand Rd in Dublin where all the headlines are about the new cycle lane but the majority of the project is about something else? In that case the installation of new water mains, water service buildings aligning with a complete overhaul of the entire road.
Doesn’t the cycle lane money come from a different fund. If they weren’t building a cycle lane would that money even be available for road projects.
~~Still how does 1.3km of cycle track cost €3. I didn’t read the article as it’s paywalled~~
Edit: I looked it up. They are completely rebuilding a redesigned 1.3km stretch of road redoing all the cross walks footpath and road surface and adding a protected cycle lanes. The funding is not coming from the councils budget.
[This source](https://www.keoconsult.com/uploads/7/6/3/2/76325713/keoconsult_cost_database_q1_2020.pdf) puts the cost of a 2 lane urban road at 2.1 to 2.6million per Km. If this source is reliable, €3 million for this project doesn’t seem unreasonable
The Indo is a fucking rag
Councillors agree the budget and plan for the year, given Jim codd has been on the council since 2019 he should be more than familiar with this project.
It’s a joke that local representatives have no accountability after half a decade on the council.
And they created a new traffic bottleneck!
Could all be avoided if drivers didn’t try to kill me.
Anyone who has passed these works knows and understands its not simply putting in a cycle lane.
For example outside the Maldron they are essentially redoing the whole public realm. Moving the bus stop, changing the footpath etc.
The whole road has essentially been ripped up in many places.
They also need to keep the road open during all these works.
Anyone who votes for FFFG are making eejits of themselves
Fuck me we’re going to have a never ending stream of idiots who don’t understand the underlying costs of big infrastructure projects.
Conveniently ignoring the Rosslare-Oylegate Road project that’s progressing through the various hurdles and which will cost many, many multiples of this cycle lane
Many cyclists using it?
Why are roads used as the example here? Most roads are upgrades of existing.
People also never bat an eyelid when we spend millions on roads, but the absolute uproar when the same amount is to be spent on public transport.
More cycle lanes and public transport please.
Yes