Two active travel schemes totalling approximately €2.5 million officially opened yesterday in County Meath.

These schemes, the Donacarney Footpath and Cycleway and enhancement of the Safe Routes to School Initiative, will provide safer, healthier and more sustainable modes of travel for the students and residents of Donacarney.

The new Donacarney Footpath and Cycleway is a construction project worth approximately €2 million which provides 800 metres of a new shared space for active travel.

As well as providing a safe link from the residential areas of Eastham Road to the Donacarney schools, the new facility also provides a safe option for active travel for the wider population linking Donacarney to Bettystown.

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Meanwhile, Réalt Na Mara Boys National School and Réalt Na Mara Girls National School, two co-located schools in Donacarney which house over 800 students, saw the completion of front of school works worth approximately €500,000.

These works include a new traffic calm and more visually appealing environment to encourage pupils and parents to walk/cycle/scoot to school in a safer setting.

The scheme also provides a safer route for active travel to school from the growing residential area of Doncarney.

The schemes were officially opened by Meath County Council, in partnership with An Taisce and the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Susan Doorley, Infrastructure Officer for Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow at An Taisce said: "The Safe Routes to School programme has three aims which are: to improve safety at front of school gates, improve access routes to school and increase the number of cycle parking at schools.

"Working alongside the 31 local authorities, we have been able to complete construction at 89 schools. We had 932 schools that were accepted onto the programme in 2021 and we currently have 421 on active rounds. Cycle and scooter parking has been delivered at 822 schools which equates to spaces for 10,700 bikes and 5328 scooters."