Red Route 5 – The best cycle way choice

There are 5 main choices in the Athlone-Galway Cycle way but against the grain the Red Route – Route 5 has emerged as a very strong candidate. The reason for this position is that

• It is the best match to the selection critera
• It’s the most popular route by far
• It has the best support
• It is, by far, the overall best route

Let’s have a quick look at why this is the case.

It offers the best for the route selection criteria

The route selection criteria is based on many factors. The project consultants are looking for a route that offers diversity, scenery, and many things to see and do. It also needs to be strategic and link up with other green initiatives – Blueways, cycleways etc. Route 5 has by far the best-case for selection because:

• It offers an incredibly scenic and the most diverse route with Weirs, Mountains, Peatland, Rivers, and coasts and rich heritage features. Provides rich background for biodiversity and geodiversity
• It contains the highest number of National Parks, Nature reserves and protected habitats, and golden miles and forest Parks.
• It offers the most to See-and-Do
• It is the most strategic with links to Shannon Blueways, East Clare Walk Ways, Wild Atlantic Way and contribute to both Eurovelo Route 1 (Altlantic Route) and Eurovelo Route 2 (Capitals Route). It offers the best experience to Galway City residents and visitors, which will have a significant proportion of Greenway users
• It delivers the biggest impact to re-energise our most disadvantaged rural communities
• Has an incredible amount of support from the communities along the way
• Has the highest levels of public lands to offer better route segregation
• It is the most popular route.

Route 5 is the most popular route

During public consultation Route 5 got the highest number of individual votes. The total individual votes was 1896 votes, 16% ahead of Route 1 (Green) and 26% more than the Route 4 the yellow route. This was despite a recognized flaw in the consultation maps where many people in East Galway thought that their only option was Route 4.

Public Consultation : Individual route voting

Many of the routes were linked with Facebook accounts that are followed. Route 5 Facebook page has 2400 members which is 78% more than the closest route (4) with 1343 likes. ‘Members’ are also more difficult to get than ‘likes’ which makes the site much more popular than it appears.

While many of the other Facebook sites have stalled after public consultation (1st March was last announcement on Epic Route 4, the Red Route Cycleway Facebook page remains very active e.g has had 72 posted/commented items in the past month with 14,282 views. Route 5 Cycleway has its own website that showcases the fantastic benefits of the Cycleway and also has several blog articles presenting some jewels along the route including latest blog article Kinvara, Experience a cool village vibe, or Chevy Chase Woods in Kilbeacanty.

One thing that has been pointed out is that Route 5 is the longest route between Athlone and Galway and therefore shouldn’t be considered but this has been far out-weighted by peoples response that this isn’t a race, they are not looking for speed but for experience and that Route 5 offers the best experience. This has also been reflected in the public consultation response where the fastest route (2) is the least popular route.

Another key area of popularity is that this route offers Galway City access to the Wild Atlantic way via a cycle way. It has been shown that most cycle way users are people living along the cycle way and this Wild Atlantic Way linkage will prove very popular.

Route 5 has the best support

Route 5 has had a huge amount of public support. We saw that it was the most popular from public consultation and from looking at social media support. It’s not just about social media support, it also had the most support on the ground. This has been summarized in the article Phenomenal Support for Route 5! but in summary, route 5 has had great support from schools, businesses, artists. We have had painted red bikes ,artwork, cookies etc. But also many landowners have been engaging with the process.

Red Route 5 is, by far, the overall best route

Initially Route 5 seemed to be an afterthought in the route options and it seemed inevitable that the route simply ‘must’ go through Athenry. The reality though, is that the route offers the best for most of the selection criteria and on paper should be the top candidate.

When looking at the route selection criteria, the popularity of the route and the overall support, Route 5 is, by far, the best option for a cycleway between Athlone and Galway!