Tramore Valley Way / Vernon Mount Bridge User Survey - Oct 2025

Back on the 1st of November 2023, the walkway and bridge linking Tramore Valley Park to Frankfield opened... see previous post.

Anytime I've used it, it seems to be well used and it's amazing how quick you can go from the noise of the traffic on the South Ring Road to the quiet calm of the tree lined valley in just a few hundred metres.

Cork City Council are now conducting a survey....

" 📢 GRANGE TO TRAMORE VALLEY WAY/VERNON MOUNT BRIDGE USER SURVEY 📢

Cork City Council, in association with the National Transport Authority, opened Grange to Tramore Valley Way and Vernon Mount Bridge in November 2023. 🚶‍♂️

This 1km long pedestrian and cycle route provides a safe walking and cycling connection from Grange into Tramore Valley Park and on to the wider city. 🚴‍♀️

If you have had the opportunity to use this route, we’d like to hear what you think about it, so that it can help us plan for the future! 🌍

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and give us your feedback. 😎

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=mSallT3qWUWXZvLfMNgv_I2caD9rzTpHrUOm34nhvLZUREkxTktNV1FJSEtJWTlJMDY3RzRJNU85WS4u "

To get an idea on how popular the route is, I had a look at the weekly heat maps on Strava. Needless to say, not everyone uses Strava but it gives us some idea of what routes people are using.

First up, we have the map for the runners on Strava...

The bright orange is the route for the weekly 5k parkrun on Saturday mornings but it's likely a lot of runners are using the loop in Tramore Valley Park during the rest of the week as well.

There seems to be quite a number of runners using the bridge and the 1km link to Frankfield as shown by the red arrow. The pathway east from the park towards Douglas seems to be well used as well.

The weekly map for walkers is shown below...

It's probably likely that the vast majority of walkers don't use Strava but it still gives us a useful guide.

Again, a lot of people are using the loop in Tramore Valley Park for walking.

You'll notice that most walkers and runners avoid trying to negotiate the Kinsale Road Roundabout to the west and most people use the park or go around Douglas.

The weekly map for cyclists is shown below...

Again, these stats are probably for cyclists getting some exercise rather than those commuting but it still shows a pattern. 

There seems to be quite a few cyclists going through the Tramore Valley Park and it's likely that it has reduced the number of cyclists on the South Douglas Road. 

You'll also notice that a number of cyclists are entering the Tramore Valley Park from the South Link Road / Black Ash side (going west to east) whereas of course, walkers and runners don't have this option. 

There's talk from time to time about a bridge over the South Link Road but as far as I know, there are no definite plans yet. 

There are plans for large apartment developments over by Musgrave Park which will mean that a lot more people will be living in this area in a few years time. This will surely make the case for a new bridge over the South Link Road to connect to the Tramore valley Park even stronger.

Vernon Mount Greenway finally opens - 1st Nov 2023

After what seems like an eternity, the new Greenway connecting Frankfield & Grange to the Tramore Valley Park has finally opened.

The new path is about 1km in length and goes from the church in Frankfield to the southern entry point for the Tramore Valley Park.

This is a photo taken on the 1st of November 2023 showing the new ramp up to the bridge and a signpost.

The surface of the ramp and the bridge over the South Ring Road has a rough texture which be vital in icy weather when tarmac is like glass.

The path up to Frankfield as a nice smooth tarmac finish with some gentle curves. The gradient is modest and nothing worse than many other hills around the city.

Close to the Frankfield end, the path splits into two options. In the photo shown above, there is a series of steps on the left and on the right, there is a more gradual gradient with several switchbacks.

The photo above shows the other end of the steps looking towards the Tramore Valley Park. 

This photo gives a nice overview of the two paths.

The photo above shows the entrance of the walk on the Grange Road. This is directly across from the church in Frankfield and was an area known as the Donkey Field.

Options... On the south side of the Vernon Mount Bridge, there is also a new entrance from the Alden Grove estate.

This should give a few more route options.

In Summary... The Tramore Valley Park is now a major recreation area in the city and this new Greenway improves access. It should give runners a few more route options around the city.

At the time of writing, the Council is working on a small car park at the start of the Greenway in Frankfield and this may be another option for runners on a Saturday morning going to the local parkrun.

NTA allocate €1.5 million for new path from Grange to the Tramore Valley Park

Update 11th Feb 2021: Good news! The National Transport Authority (NTA) have just allocated €1.5 million in funding to construct a new pedestrian and cycle path from the Grange Road / Frankfield to the Tramore Valley Park. This will include a new bridge over the South Ring Road.

 

Back in early 2018, full planning permission was granted for a new pedestrian/cycleway from the Grange Road through the Vernon Mount Valley with an overbridge to the Tramore Valley Park.

At a recent meeting of Cork City Council, the Director of Infrastructure Development said that the plans were now finalised... ‘The detailed design of the project has been completed, aided by grant funding by the National Transport Authority. Under the current programme it is envisaged that subject to funding, the Council will be tendering for works and appointing a contractor in 2021, with an estimated construction time of 18 months.’
 

Slowly but surely this project is gradually getting there. The key word however in the statement above is funding. 

Ground work on the entrance from Grange in 2016

Previous posts...

Cork City Council plans to build a bridge to access Tramore Valley Park (May 2018)

Update on the bridge and walkway for the Tramore Valley Park (Oct 2015)

Planning Notice (2017)

Council plans to turn former dump into adventure park...

Cork City Council have just announced that they plan to transform the former city dump into one of the country’s largest adventure, leisure, and recreation parks. The redevelopment of the former landfill on the Kinsale Rd will be one of the largest such reclamation projects in Ireland and it is hoped that it will be completed by 2018. The plan is to have 29 hectares of public open space and private land, including land around Vernon Mount House on the southern side of the South Ring Rd with a bridge over the South Ring Road connecting the two areas.

Some of the planned features are...
* A caravan and motor home park for visiting tourists;
* An all-weather site capable of hosting concerts, ice rinks, circuses, and equestrian events using flexible multi-purpose buildings;
* Indoor and outdoor adventure play centres, to include zip wires, climbing walls, luge tracks, and zorbing;
* An extreme sports trail and cross-country course;
* A network of cycle and walking trails;
* Wildlife trails and viewing platforms over wetland areas;
* Urban farming or allotments;
* An area to highlight the use of renewable energies.

Michael O’Brien, an engineer in the city council..."We hope to unveil the master plan within a few weeks and host an open-day at the park for the public in August. That will be the start of our engagement with the public on our plans to transform this site in to a huge public park."

The current plan is that the features will be rolled out in phases over the coming years subject to funding. In the meantime, it is hoped that the walking and cycling trails in the park will open to the public next year in 2013.


The 150-acre Kinsale Rd dump opened in 1965 and served as the city’s main landfill until 2009. It is estimated that up to 3m tonnes of waste have been landfilled at the EPA-licenced facility.