BALLYMACOOL residents are to vehemently oppose active travel plans on their doorstep, which would see the creation of a cycle lane and the construction of a parking bay to replace spaces currently outside their homes.

Close to 100 people attended a public meeting in the Station House Hotel on Tuesday night, where residents voiced their fears that any such move would lead to a decimation of personal safety, human rights and an increased traffic flow.

Donegal County Council is seeking to establish a high quality continuous footway and cycleway route along the R250 Ballymacool Road, to promote active travel journeys from residential areas to key education, employment, commercial, retail and tourist destinations in Letterkenny.

The Ballymacool Road Active Travel Project proposes to provide new and/or upgraded pedestrian facilities on both sides of the carriageway and a new segregated cycling facility on the southern side of the carriageway.

The project shall include land take within the scheme extent and the relocation of existing on road parking at Ballymacool Terrace.

Part of the plans include the purchase of land to construct a parking bay, to replace the parking that is currently in place outside of housing located at Ballymacool Terrace along the R250.

Concerns have raised about how home help carers will gain access their clients, and of how children with additional needs will be brought safely to and from school buses.

Donegal County Council hosted a public information event last week on the plans to develop the project, but many residents said the first they knew about the proposals was when a leaflet was dropped through their letterbox.

One man said he believes the plans have been put forward without consultation with residents.

“I live a mile and a half out the road. It takes me half an hour to get into town with the volume of traffic. What they are doing is not going to do anything to ease the traffic in the area, which is building up day after day. It is going to get worse.”

A woman told of her experience when works were carried out on the Back Road.

‘ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE’

One woman said: “At the informal meeting last week we were told that this money was ringfenced by Europe. Who in Europe knows what the needs of Swilly View and Ballymacool are?

“I was running one of the schools when the Back Road was done. We were never consulted, and it was an absolute nightmare. Teachers and students were coming in late. It was a disaster. I’m also thinking back to the time when my mother had half an hour home help every day. That home help will now be under pressure. Their time is going to be cut by 10 minutes if they have to park elsewhere.”

A teacher who lives on the row, said: “The decisions that have been made in the last five years have destroyed the town. They haven’t helped the town, and we’re continuing to make further mistakes.

“I work in Buncrana. I get up in the morning very early and sometimes come back at night very late, which is actually an anxiety for me now because where will I park? I can’t cycle to Inishowen. It is out of the equation. We don’t have a bus service. We don’t have a train service.

“It’s an abuse of our human rights.”

A Drumkeen resident, whose family live in Ballymacool, asked if data analysis had been carried out on how many cyclists are using the cycleways in Letterkenny. She said that she travels on the Four Lane dual carriageway daily, and has seen one cyclist.

“I have talked to road racers who have said they won’t use the cycle lane because it damages their bike. The council know all of the issues going on with the Four Lanes road. Why is no-one taking the lessons learned? Is anyone doing any data analysis on how many people are using bikes in Letterkenny? I know we all have to think about the environment, but this will make the situation worse because people will be sitting in traffic longer and therefore there will be more emissions.”

Local resident and Aontú representative Rebecca McDaid chaired the meeting. A special needs assistant, Mrs McDaid said the additional needs of many are not being taken into consideration.

“Children with autism cannot be delayed on a bus. This is crucial. People are not being taken into consideration. Common sense must prevail.

“It has been said works may be nine months to a year. We need to take into consideration where are people going to go when the works are going to be carried out?

“There is no relief road. A relief road is so imperative; for residents, children, school buses, traffic congestion. At the minute, it is totally impractical.

The removal of residents’ parking will make it extremely difficult for people to have essential property maintenance works carried out. Without any essential car parking, things like oil and fuel deliveries and postal deliveries becomes impractical.”

A number of apologies were sent from local councillors who could not attend the meeting. Addressing the meeting, Councillor Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly described active travel projects in Letterkenny as “premature” and as “putting the horse before the cart”.

He said: “We’re not ready in this town for these projects. We have no public transport, no bus service.

“We’ve a massive traffic issue in Letterkenny. There are issues with water in Bomany and Bonagee, as well as sewage issues.”

The residents plan to lodge their objections to County House in Lifford within a week. A further information event is to take place in the Radisson Hotel on Thursday, November 6 at 6pm.