Completion of walking and cycle path connecting Malahide and Donabate delayed again

The Broadmeadow Greenway should be ready to open in 2027, according to a recent report to Fingal councillors.

That’s a year later than last quoted. 

The end-date for the greenway – which, once finished, should steer cyclists and ramblers through a wildlife haven and run for 6km between Malahide and Donabate –  has seen several delays. 

The route will be much more direct than the current option to get between the two towns: looping all the way inland to Swords, basically, to skirt the Broadmeadow Estuary, a 12km journey. 

Some parts of the project, which is divided into segments, have been built, said a report from senior engineer Linda Lally at a meeting of the Balbriggan area committee meeting on 8 May.

The estuary bridge is done, the report says. There’s still work to do on the north and south causeways though.

The pushed-back end date is due to “the seasonal constraints of working within the estuary, along with the technical challenges of building on the Northern Causeway”, said Lally’s response.

Still, councillors say that they’re confident the wait will be worth it. 

"We'll see a lot of people who haven't been cycling, or haven't been cycling for years, getting their bikes out of the shed or getting new bikes," said David Healy, the Green Party councillor.

It’ll also be a safe route for children to get themselves to school in Malahide, said Social Democrats Councillor Paul Mulville. “They can cycle. They can walk.”

The greenway

When it is done, the greenway will stretch over wetlands and mudflats and open water.

The idea of it had floated around for years, said Healy, of the Green Party. “Really, since the ’90s.”

But it was only after the partial collapse of the Malahide Viaduct in August 2009 that it became a realistic project, he says. 

The bridge had to be rebuilt then anyway, said Adrian Henchy, a former Fianna Fáil councillor. 

Engineers responsible for the repairs saw it as an opportunity, Henchy said. “As an opportunity to put in a pedestrian and cycle bridge.” 

Healy said the piers for the greenway were actually installed around that time. 

But they didn’t have proper approval, which caused some delays down the line, he said.  

"And they've been sitting there for the intervening 12 years.”

Henchy said that he isn’t pleased, but also isn’t surprised, by delays. "It's an incredibly ambitious project and was always going to be a big task to get it over the line.”

"You're literally building probably one of the largest, kind of, greenway bridges right across a significant parcel of water," said Henchy, referring to the 280-metre bridge stretching over the estuary.

An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the project in May 2020. 

Why it’s tricky

One reason why progress is slower than on some other projects is because construction has to take into account the sensitive wildlife habitat of the area.

The estuary is a special protection area, meaning it’s a place where the state needs to take special care to safeguard the habitats of birds. 

It’s also a special area of conservation, a broader designation focused on protecting the habitats of a wide variety of species.

So work on the greenway there can only be carried out between May and September, “outside of the bird overwintering period”, according to a 2019 council environmental impact assessment report.

The Broadmeadow Estuary is a home to migratory birds, including the near-threatened black-tailed godwit, Brent geese, and red-breasted merganser, as well as oystercatchers and other wetland species, and “the globally threatened common loon”. 

There’s eelgrass, blue mussels, and extensive green algae, according to the Ramsar Sites Information Service, which provides information on wetlands designated as being of international importance, on foot of the Convention on Wetlands, adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971.

The greenway had to be designed to avoid disrupting the estuary’s ecology, said Healy, the Green Party councillor. That means features like barriers to keep dogs away from the mudflats.

“I mean, the birds have adapted to the trains running across,” he said. “Like when you get the train, you can see that it doesn't scare the birds, it doesn't affect them.”

“And this will probably actually give them a bit of shelter and a little bit of noise screening from the trains,” he said.

The wetland terrain has also posed engineering challenges, said Henchy, the former councillor. “The depth of the water, tides, estuary, everything going on — it has to be rock solid and done right.”

There are also rules on working hours beside railway lines because of safety, said Healy, the Green Party councillor.

There’s a short window for construction, he said. “Because obviously you can't have people building while the trains are running.”

The report to councillors said that work on the northern causeway is due to start this summer. While work on the southern causeway is due to start next summer, it says.

Healy said he wasn’t sure why those couldn’t happen at the same time. “But they didn’t get an answer on that one.”

And the environmental care and safety rules aren’t new either. “I'm not aware of any kind of new factors which weren't known of previously,” Healy said. 

Many layers

Mulville, the Social Democrats councillor, said that weak local government is also part of the reason for the delivery time. 

“In Europe, I guess councils are pretty much more powerful – and we also lack a proper regional government,” he said.

The greenway is being delivered jointly by Fingal County Council and the National Transport Authority, in coordination with Irish Rail.

Mulville says that the long-term benefits will outweigh any costs, including cost increases. 

“In terms of trying to move away from car dependency, get people, you know, cycling and walking more good for health and everything," he said.

This was a big dream though, and the end goal is in sight. 

Henchy, who was mayor of Fingal in 2023–24, said that “One of the proudest days as mayor was seeing the contractor appointed.” 

“Pity it’s being delayed but as I said, when it does finally open, it’s going to be a game changer,” he said.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.