“Keep it clean and keep it green!”

“Keep it clean and keep it green!” could very well be the motto for our wonderful new Waterford Greenway.

I ventured with my trusty steed, onto a very wee part of this 42km ribbon of regenerated old rail track, on a quiet Friday afternoon. My unicycle, shod in its skinny unforgiving road racing tyres, is not really suited to most of the surfaces to which its rubber would be exposed. “Slowly, slowly catchee monkey”, were the wise words of wisdom ringing in my ears.

As two Lyrca clad MAMILS, gingerly accessed this amazing piece of tourism infrastructure at Kilmacthomas, we’d carefully wound our bikes up to nowhere near their top speed. Very conscious that we could meet walkers, joggers, buggies, dogs and other bicyclists. In fact we only met three walkers on our small excursion. But, as the surfaces went from smooth tarmac to rather rougher stone and chip, we decided that egress at the next junction, was the wisest budgetary option.

 

There is no doubt that the Greenway is more suited to chunky mountain bikes, hybrid bikes and the new cyclocross bikes. All of which have wider tyres and better frame clearances than regular road racing bikes. We all of course knew this, but I just had to try out for myself, on that quiet overcast Friday afternoon.

I am pleased to report that the section tried, appeared almost litter free. I could see no significant signs of the dreaded “Doggy poop”, which seems to afflict all manner of public realm spaces, across the whole City and County for that matter.

Another reason I tentatively introduced my Cube to the Greenway, was to see and sample, for myself, the current rumpus about people using this newest of tourism experiences. You could not have helped noticing, that “Bad Greenway practices” have been splashed across social media, given vast column inches, in the local newspaper print and lots of on air chatter on WLR FM. In fact, on a very recent local radio programme, a listener had text in to effect that basically, “All cyclists should be banned from the Greenway!!!!!”

Well these few words, caused an avalanche, agreeing all cyclists are simply the reincarnation of Satan. Should you be unlucky enough to be caught in wearing cyclists Lyrca, you must be hung, drawn and quartered immediately. Or be sent to jail, “Do not pass go, do not collect €200!” This hatred, shown by many hiding behind anonymous profiles, never ceases to amaze me.

But the simple fact, for all our naysayers, is that our new Greenway will attract more and more people on two wheels. Something to accept if we are to reap the success from this amazing revenue attractor. Already making such a difference to the fortunes of places like Kilmacthomas, Durrow and Dungarvan. Once there is a real and indisputable connection to Waterford City Centre, we will see further benefits coming to more businesses from the “Pedalling Euro”.

I was interested to see if our world leading capacity to moan, groan and grip about positive news was catching. Low and behold it was!

The new roof, which is nearing completion on the Apple Market, is getting an equally bad press.

This very large public realm project, will provide a covered space generating so many opportunities. Yet the roof design and cost are both being pilloried by I suspect, the same people complaining about those using the Greenway.

Too expensive (paid by commercial rates etc)! Money should have been spent on the hospital Cath Lab (different budget centres)! The metal work (despite not being finished) looks crap! Will attracted undesirables (will be properly policed)!.....and so on.

Our ability to mock, deride and engage in diatribes, about our positive opportunities needs to stop.

You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Let us embrace these positive changes and wait to see how things work out, before we start shouting, bitching or criticising.

In the meantime, ALL users need to start looking after our shiny new crown jewels. Everyone needs to ensure that we “Keep it clean and keep it green!” for future generations.

Greenway is up and running, or cycling or walking!

On Saturday 25^th March, to be exact, the much anticipated Waterford Greenway officially opened. Encompassing Waterford City, in the East, to Dungarvan Town, in the West, along the full 46 kilometre route.

The use of this old, decommissioned railway line has been in planning for many, many a year and a number of sections have been accessible for some time now. Saturday marks the opening of the “Full Monty”. A 46km coastal/inland route, which will simply blow your socks off. Sharing some stunning vistas of sea, mountains, hills and glens.

Some parts of this coastline have for far too long been hidden gems, known only to a select few locals, quietly spoken about in the corners of bars and coffee shops. Now we can ALL shout from the rafters, that at long last, we are to have an alternative tourist attraction, which really does rival those dotted around the various corners of this wee green island.

In particular, the Waterford Greenway will rival the explosion of this type of development. Examples of these, can also be found in places that link Athlone and Mullingar, Westport and Achill Island, Abbeyfeale and Rathkeale. There are also plans to open a Greenway in Connemara, between Cloonbeg and Athry, later this year.

These large infrastructural projects are being designed to bring new life to otherwise unused, huge tracks of land. The restructuring of old railway lines and tracks is a good idea and one that should be welcomed by all. We need to find and source new tourism markets for Waterford, if we are to drive the County and wider South East, out of the third tier of recovery we find ourselves in. The recent Sunday Times Rich List report shows Waterford County has the lowest level of wealth, when compared to the other 32 counties on this island. This is something that we must quickly address and correct, if we are to ever regain our status as the fourth city of Ireland.

Waterford’s Greenway, must now be sold to the people of Waterford and further afield, to a National and International market. What cannot happen is that we open this wonderful attractor and sit back under the age old adage of “We have built this and now they will come!”. Not insignificant sums of public, Council, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland money must be spent on PR, marketing and promotion of our Greenway. There will be plenty of competition fighting for these additional resources and we must make sure that we get our fair share.

There will also be an onus on the Council, to make sure that the eastern end of the Greenway actually connects to the heart of Waterford City. We created a wonderful Viking Triangle and the connectors to the City Centre have been an awfully long time in the making! This cannot be allowed to happen with this project.

At present, the western end connectors are ALL in place, with access right into the very heart of Dungarvan. The eastern access points seem to be taking rather longer to be put in place and we have the very real prospect of yet another east/west split. Our “Full Monty” has to be delivered and delivered in a timely fashion.

Hopefully, from Saturday 25^th March, tens of thousands of people will be coming to Waterford, with the sole purpose of travelling our Greenway. We must at the very least, ensure that they leave having been absolutely stunned by what they have seen. We want these people to return in their hordes, bringing more and more family and friends. Repeat customers are the very best customers and we need to encourage this culture.

 

I do hope that we, the local citizens, look after this important piece of new infrastructure for our future guests. We cannot allow the Greenway to become a cycle race track, a scrambler track, a pony-trekking route, or a convenient place to let your dog poop or a place to dump rubbish.....!

Waterford’s Greenway is another jewel in our crown, so let us keep it shining bright.