The plans to connect North and South Swords through a pedestrian bridge has take a big step forward.
Under Fingal’s Capital Programme a bridge, which will connect Brackenstown with Rivervalley, has received its first allocation.
As part of the programme some €700k has been allocated directly to the bridge project. While this funding will not deliver the walking and cycling bridge on it’s own it shows the council are preparing to engage consultants and designers to move the projected to the next phase.
When the project reaches a more detailed design, the funding for this will ultimately come from the National Transport Agency.
Cllr Ian Carey said:
“This is a very exciting element of the Ward River Park Development Project and I’m glad to see it get its’ own funding line in the capital programme.
“It’s trying to solve the very old problem of Swords being divided in two by the river valley. A walking and cycling connection like this is what the Green Party looked for in our submission to the Sustainable Swords project and in submissions to the consultants under the park project.
“It makes a lot of sense and would allow access to community infrastructure on both sides of the valley to the whole community. It will also help young people get safely to school more safely – in particular pupils from around the town attending Loreto, SCC and Finians.
“Obviously this has to be done right, with strong protections in place for nature in the valley and public safety, but if it is this bridge could become a really iconic piece of infrastructure. It could be a symbol of Swords and something with incredible views of the woodland and further afield.”
