Westport beat off stiff competition to be selected as one of Ireland’s Smarter Travel Demonstration Areas 2012-2016. The Westport Smarter Travel proposal was developed by Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council with strong community support from the people of Westport.
Said Minister Ring: “This news is a major boost for the town. It will put Westport right at the centre of the Government’s transport policy and make the town a national leader in terms of innovation in transport and will be a great boost for the town’s tourism potential”.
“There were fears this programme would be scrapped with the cut backs but I have been working closely with public transport Minister, Alan Kelly, to make sure this got over the line. It was an excellent bid by Westport Town Council and Mayo County Council and I am delighted to see it has been approved because I pushed so hard for it” added Minister Ring.
The Smarter Travel Demonstration Areas is a national competition that looked at towns to provide the best package to facilitate initiatives that would encourage people out of their cars and into using walking, cycling and coordinated public transport. Westport’s bid had strong community support and was based around active tourism so that Westport will offer visitors a high quality smarter travel experience.
“What we will see here are a number of measures aimed at facilitating cycling, walking and using more public transport. You will see high quality greenways connecting residential areas with schools, workplaces and the town centre. Furthermore, the provision of a sustainable transport coordination facility for the town is also proposed”.
“The cross community support and engagement with this winning bid is extremely impressive. It is typical of the kind of co-operation and involvement which we have come to expect from Westport and which is a fundamental part of the success of the town in the Tidy Towns Competition and other competitions over the years. I would like to thank the many individuals, groups, organizations and agencies which have contributed to making this success possible.”
Welcoming the announcement, the Cathaoirleach of Westport Town Council, Councillor Christy Hyland said “It is a great day for this town and offers the opportunity to reinforce the message that Westport is an environmentally friendly, sustainable and beautiful welcoming place to visit, live and invest.”
Mayo County Manager Mr. Peter Hynes said: “The award is testimony to twenty years of hard work and responsible planning in the town and it’s environs and we in Mayo look forward to the challenge of delivering the project to make Westport into The Ideal Town and a model for other towns in the twenty first century”.
In broad terms, the funding will be spent on:
• improved cycling ways, including safe routes to school and to key business and workplace zones;
• secure cycle parking in town centres or at public transport nodes;
• better walking facilities, including pedestrianisation;
• lower speed limits in residential and town centre areas;
• school and workplace travel planning
• e-working
• car clubs
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