Local councillors welcome project, with one stressing wider greenway need to go ahead. After repeated delays on projects to upgrade the Royal Canal to modern greenway standards between Phibsborough and Ashtown, Waterways Ireland is stepping in with an 850,000 upgrade to the shared canal path between Broombridge and Ashtown.The works include resurfacing of the towpath, localised widening, and replacing kissing gates with bollards, while chicane barriers will also be added.A spokesperson for the all-island waterways body said: Waterways Ireland is carrying out works to upgrade the Royal Canal Towpath between Broombridge (Lock 7) and Ashtown (Lock 10), funded by the National Transport Authority (NTA). Work began on Monday, 5th October 2026 and is due to be completed in early 2027. Waterways Ireland regrets that towpath users will face intermittent closures during the upgrade works and apologises for any inconvenience caused.Dublin City Council has for years planned to upgrade the route between Phibsborough and Ashtown, but a number of attempts have hit different roadblocks.Waterways Ireland said that a rolling towpath closure system, designed to minimise disruption to towpath users, is in place for the duration of the works.Individual sections of the towpath will close while upgrade works are being undertaken and will reopen immediately upon completion of the works. The majority of the path will now be between 2.5m and 3m in width, however, a narrower section (approx. 1.75m) exists between Broombridge and Ratoath Road, the spokesperson said.Waterways Ireland said it is also removing kissing gates and replacing them with bollards, while also adding staggered or chicane barriers as a speed management method.The Waterways Ireland spokesperson said: To enhance overall accessibility along the corridor, we are removing kissing gates at the entry points and replacing them with bollards. To mitigate the risk associated with high-speed motorised vehicles, chicane gates (Detail H, see below) will be installed at various locations. The layout has been widened significantly to ensure improved access and better connections with surrounding neighbourhoods.The layout provides a 5-metre distance between the gate leaves, with 1.5m clearance widths. This design will facilitate comfortable access for standard bicycles, cargo bikes, trailers, and standard mobility aids. The drop-bolt design also allows the gates to be locked open or potentially removed in the future, if safe to do so, the spokesperson said.The spokesperson added: In a related development, progress on active travel in the area has taken another significant step forward with the recent submission of a Planning Application by Fingal County Council for an 8.1km section of the Royal Canal Greenway between the 12th lock and the Dublin/Kildare County boundary at Leixlip. This represents one of the final stages in completing the Royal Canal Greenway between the Liffey and the Shannon.Cllr Colm ORourke (Fine Gael) said: This is a significant programme of works which brings together a number of improvements residents have been asking for over many years.He added: There will inevitably be some short-term disruption for people who use the canal for walking, cycling, exercise and commuting. However, this is a significant 850,000 investment bringing together a number of improvements residents have sought for many years.Cllr Feljin Jose (Green Party) said: This is a welcome and long overdue improvement, especially for people using mobility aids and cargo bikes.He added: However, Royal Canal Phase 4 is still needed to deliver segregation between cyclists and pedestrians and lighting to improve safety in the winter months.The last known progress on Phase 4, the city councils last section of the greenway to be updated, was surveying of the railway line to Maynooth which crosses the towpath where the is a very narrow unpass on the towpath route. That surveying work took place at the start of 2026.