From: John Fingleton Sent: 06 June 2002 20:30

To: info@s2s.ie Subject: S2S project

To whom it may concern I am thrilled by your proposal. I have made a similar suggestion to a number of politicians in the past, but had not put it together in writing, and lacked any sort of group or organisation to support it. The genesis of my idea came from Chicago where I lived and where there is an enormously successful path of over 20 miles along the lakeshore. It is one of the most notably attractive features of living in Chicago, even though it only gets used for 6 months a year because of the weather. In my own ideas, I thought that it would make sense to link the seafront path with paths out of Dublin along the tow paths of both canals. These are an excellent resource, but need to be cleaned up, but the rights of way exist, even without any difficult parts.

I even suggested that telecom companies might be interested in buying the space beneath them for ducting. The two paths offer an excellent prospect to switch people to commuting, as they are safely insulated from traffic. In many cases, there are bridges in place, so that there is no need to cross roads. A few details would increase the use of the amenity. a.. public drinking fonts along the route because people get dehydrated easily b.. adequate lighting for safety so they can be used at night c.. resources to keep them clean and tidy d.. a soft running surface alongside for public health reasons (can elaborate if necessary). e.. high quality surface that can also be used by roller-bladers Paths that can be used by runners, cyclists, roller bladers are best, because the multiple use makes the investment more justifiable and the mass of users makes them safer. However, they need to be wide and high quality. If they just copy the Phoenix Park model, it would be a disaster. I am tying this in an airplane having just read about it in the paper, so was not able to see your website in advance. Apologies if I have duplicated your work. Anyhow, I would be very happy to support your proposals if I can.

John Fingleton