Minister of State for the OPW, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, has welcomed the completion of the underpass at Montree, Athlone as part of the €4m greenway project.
The new underpass will form part of the Greenway’s extension from the White Gates on the Ballymahon Road to the banks of the River Shannon at Athlone Marina.
“Now that the work has been completed on the underpass, this is great news for Athlone and great news for tourism. You will now be able to cycyle from Maynooth to Athlone by the end of the summer.
“In time, Westmeath County Council will be the main driver behind bringing the Greenway across the Shannon, which is a significant step forward for the Hidden Heartlands and for tourism in Athlone and Westmeath in general,” Deputy Moran remarked.
Deputy Moran noted that works to bring a Greenway bridge across the River Shannon should commence in 2021.
“Works on the bringing the Greenway across the Shannon is now the next step and the brief to design this is currently being drawn up for consultants and I am hopeful that work will commence in this regard in 2021.
“Since going into Government I have pushed very hard to ensure that the region could properly benefit from the growth in Greenways and I saw Athlone as a key piece in that jigsaw.
“The entire project will have significant impact across not the Midlands region in terms of increasing our share of green tourism. I also want to thank the local authority officials including Barry Keogh and our local Councillors for supporting this project from the start,” Deputy Moran concluded.
