Frequently Asked Questions

The Fingal Coastal Way is a long-standing objective identified in the Fingal Development Plan and the Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan and is now included in the National Cycle Network Plan recently published by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). It will provide a high quality, safe, attractive and environmentally sympathetic coastal walking and cycling route linking Donabate, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries, Balbriggan and the wider North Fingal area. It is intended to be a rural and urban greenway that will provide a first-class amenity for local users, both for leisure and offering an attractive sustainable transport choice for residents and businesses in addition to encouraging tourism in the area. This will bring significant environmental, economic and health benefits to Fingal similar to the Great Western Greenway in Mayo and the Waterford Greenway. The scheme will link to other facilities in Fingal such as the soon to be constructed Broadmeadow Way to provide an accessible and attractive route along the Fingal Coastline.

The project team has been working on the route assessment process which has now identified the Emerging Preferred Route for the scheme. The assessment process included consideration of feedback received during previous consultations. Considering the importance and value of the feedback received to date on the project, we wish to provide the public with an opportunity to voice any relevant comments and questions on the Emerging Preferred Route. Following review of feedback, consideration will be given to making any appropriate adjustments to the route.

Generally, the scheme will be designed to the relevant Irish design standards such as the National Cycle Manual, Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets and Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s Rural Cycle Design guidance. However, the consideration of international best practice will be advocated throughout the development and design process. The design team are constantly looking to best-in-class schemes constructed across Europe. In addition, the design will consider the impacts on the environment, property, traffic flow, local issues and feedback from the public to ensure that the completed scheme provides the best possible user experience.

The achievement of a route with the highest level of service is an objective of the scheme. As such, it is envisaged that greenway users will be mostly segregated from vehicles for the vast majority of the scheme. Several shared space provisions will, however, be required where full segregation is not achievable. These are limited to short sections, predominantly in town areas, with very low traffic volumes and speeds. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the greenway will be shared between cyclists and pedestrians. Regardless of the exact type of facilities that are eventually proposed, the greenway will be designed to ensure that the safety of the most vulnerable users is considered first.

It is envisaged that the Fingal Coastal Way will be mostly segregated from the existing road network, generally traversing greenfield sites which will allow the route to be designed to best fulfil its function as a coastal greenway. In the areas where the greenway is proposed along the existing road network, the greenway users will be segregated from the vehicular traffic in most locations. In other more constrained areas, one-way systems and shuttle systems may be required.

Since inception of the scheme, the environmental impact of the scheme has been one of the main considerations and will remain so throughout the development of the project. A constraints study was carried out in which a comprehensive review of the environmentally sensitive sites in the study area was completed. As the Emerging Preferred Route is progressed, an Environmental Impact Assessment and Natura Impact Statement are likely to be required which will assess all impacts on the environment including ecology, people, traffic, air and noise.

Significant consideration is always given to the impact of the proposed routes on private land and farmland. Generally, the proposed routes follow field boundaries to avoid splitting farmland unnecessarily. While efforts have been made to reduce the impact of the coastal way on private property, some private land will be required to facilitate the construction of the Fingal Coastal Way. It is intended that this land will be acquired by agreement as far as possible in line with TII’s Code of Practice for National and Regional Greenways. The project team has been actively engaged with numerous landowners.

The proposed greenway will bring direct improved, safe access to amenities including links to shops, schools, sports clubs and other local facilities to any properties located along it.

In rural areas, the greenway generally is located away from private houses, however, screening and accommodation works will be discussed with any affected landowners to address privacy and security concerns.

In urban areas, the greenway is generally proposed to run within the existing road reservation. In these areas, the greenway will improve the public realm through the use of high-quality materials and finishes. The introduction of traffic management measures along with the improved public realm will help to improve safety by lowering vehicle speeds and volumes.

There are currently a number of other schemes and projects which are being developed in the area around Donabate which could impact on the proposed greenway. These include proposed residential developments, a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the railway and public realm improvements within the town centre. To ensure the proposed greenway route must stand on its own as a viable route it cannot rely on other projects. As these projects are currently in development and subject to considerable uncertainty at this stage, the Emerging Preferred Route does not utilise them, however, in the future as these other projects progress, they may become an alternative route for the Fingal Coastal Way.

While efforts have been made to reduce the impact of the coastal way on private property, some private land will be required to facilitate the construction of the Fingal Coastal Way. It is intended that this land will be acquired by agreement as far as possible in line with TII’s Code of Practice for National and Regional Greenways. The project team has been actively engaged with numerous landowners.

One-way traffic systems are proposed on South Shore Road in Rush and the R127 (Balbriggan Road) in Skerries in order to facilitate the proposed greenway route.

On South Shore Road, it is currently proposed that one-way traffic will operate in an easterly direction towards the town centre. Traffic wishing to access South Shore Road in a westerly direction will be able to travel via Channel Road, Hands Lane, Sandy Lane, Golf Road and Dalys Lane.

On the R127 (Balbriggan Road), it is currently proposed that one-way traffic will operate in a westerly direction towards Balbriggan. Traffic wishing to access the R127 coming from the Balbriggan direction will be able to travel via Barnageeragh Road and Northcliffe Heights.

While the above one-way systems have been indicatively identified based on optimum traffic routing, they will be subject to further development and consultation with the public, particularly local users.

In line with Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s Project Appraisal Guidelines, the proposed scheme cost falls within the €20 - €100 million band. The exact costs will be subject to the agreement of a preferred route, calculation of land acquisition costs and the final design of the scheme.

The design of the bridges has yet to be carried out and will be developed during the next stage of the project. It is envisaged that these will be architecturally of high quality and will serve as landmark bridges in the area where appropriate.

This scheme is the largest greenway that Fingal County Council has ever sought to develop. At 32km, it is one of the largest in the country. In order for the scheme to be developed to the highest standard and to successfully achieve planning consent, as well as to minimise impacts and to take as many views on board as possible, the project team must work very carefully and methodically to address numerous complex issues. These include landowner, structural engineering and environmental issues. We also work within the TII Code of Best Practice for National and Regional Greenways, which specifies the process for developing large greenway schemes and includes a number of different public consultation stages.

Once this public consultation period has ended, the design team will collect and analyse all of the submissions received. These will be summarised and a report with responses to the various themes raised will be issued. Where necessary and appropriate to do so, the Emerging Preferred Route may be modified to reflect the feedback that is received. Once the preferred route is finalised, preliminary design will commence where further detail on the exact layout of the greenway will be developed. It is also likely that an Environmental Impact Assessment Report and Natura Impact Statement will need to be prepared. Additional liaison with landowners will be held throughout this stage of the project and further general public consultations will be held prior to submission of the final planning documents to An Bord Pleanála in late 2024/early 2025.

Fingal County Council is actively working on a number of related projects that will provide good connectivity for cycling and walking between Donabate and Portrane and the surrounding areas. This includes upgrades to the Cliff Walk, a new walking and cycling route on the R126 (Donabate to Portrane road), and greenway cycling and walking connections at Ballymastone and St Ita’s, and other routes identified in the Donabate Local Area Plan.

Fingal County Council is actively working on a project to improve accessibility to Rogerstown Park, which involves the provision of a new route connecting Lusk, Lusk and Rush Train Station and the Park. The Coastal Way will also directly serve the Park and so there will ultimately be a high quality linkage from the Fingal Coastal Way to Lusk.