A planning application for the Royal Canal Greenway between the Co Kildare border and just before the M50 at 12th Lock has been lodged with An Coimisin Pleanla, the national planning board.Fingal County Council has named the 8.1km project the Royal Canal Urban Greenway. The route will link areas of Dublin 15 for commuting trips, for example to and from Kildare and Dublin City, and also enable leisure and tourism trips from the River Liffey to the River Shannon. The planning permission has just been lodged, and, at the time of writing, the planning file has not yet been published on An Coimisin Pleanlas website. However, a notice has been published in a local newspaper, and the projects webpage was updated today with the following details.The council outlines that the Royal Canal Urban Greenway will run as a shared pedestrian and cycle route from the Kildare County Council boundary to Talbot Bridge at the Old Navan Road, where it will connect with the completed Ashtown Greenway.The route runs along and adjacent to the Royal Canal through west Dublin 15. The proposed development follows the Royal Canal corridor from the Fingal/Kildare County boundary in the west to Talbot Bridge at the Old Navan Road in the east. It passes through and serves the Clonsilla, Coolmine, Castleknock and Blanchardstown areas and connects with completed greenway infrastructure at both ends, the council said. The council said that the shared path will generally have a 4 m wide bituminous route surface from Talbot Bridge to Kennan Bridge on the Porterstown Road, a 34 m wide bituminous surface from Kennan Bridge to Hansfield Railway Bridge, and generally a 23 m wide unbound surface from Hansfield Railway Bridge to the Kildare County boundary at the eastern edge of Leixlip.The unbound inter-urban rural section in County Dublin will contrast with the bounded inter-urban sections between Maynooth and Leixlip and leading up to the Kildare/Dublin border.Unbounded surfaces, made of compacted stones and dust, are seen as more natural, but this surface tyep increases maintenance costs, increases surface-related inaccessibility and risk when maintenance is not carried out, and increases bicycle maintenance costs, especially for regular users. Unbounded surfaces are also seen as more environmentally friendly, as not just the runoff from the surfaces, but also parts of the surface can end up in canals. The first two sections will include parts with concrete cantilevered or raised boardwalks where required by local topography. A new bridge, called Quarry Bridge, a 30 metre single-span composite steel beam and concrete deck bridge, is planned to facilitate the route switching from the south side of the canal around Castleknock railway station to the north side of the canal where it will continue on that side to Co Kildare.An underpass is also planned beside Castleknock Station it will run from beside the station and beneath Castleknock Road on the southern side of Granard Bridge.The council said that the work is planned to include constructing embankments and retaining structures where required to stabilise ground conditions and support the greenway alignment.There are set to be three toucan signal-controlled crossings and one zebra crossing at road interfaces along the route, and lighting will be provided along the urban section, with west of Hansfield Railway Bridge remaining unlit. The council said the planning application includes removing two residential properties and associated ancillary structures near Hansfield Road to facilitate the greenway alignment and pocket park. The pocket park at Hansfield is planned to include a wildflower meadow, native hedgerow, informal play features, seating and associated landscaping.Access points which have been a contentious issue for residents associations, while seen as key to enabling active travel and better local access to train stations are not mentioned in the application summary, but improving boundary fences is. Ground-level adjustments are planned adjoining Delwood Park, including lowering the greenway and providing a 2 metre high timber palisade fence with anti-climb mesh, the council said.At the Brompton green area, the plans include provision of privacy planting and railings to supplement the existing boundary treatment. The update said that the application also includes landscape and reinstatement work, including removal of selected trees, hedgerows and vegetation where required, replacement planting, drainage, utilities, fencing, boundaries, signage, road markings, traffic signals, temporary compounds and construction access arrangements.IrishCycle.com will cover the details of the application further after it is published online. The final urban section of the Royal Canal Greenway between Dublin and the midlands to be progressed is the Dublin City Council section between Ashtown and Glasnevin/Phibsborough. This section is generally passable but needs upgrading. Waterways Ireland is also expected to make short-term improvements soon, ahead of other upgrades (more on this soon in another article). IMAGE: An artists impression graphic from the previous public consultation rounds which may or may not represent the current plan. Used for illustration only.