Pictures: Drogheda Cycling Group
A new idea to create a pedestrian and cycle route alongside Drogheda’s historic Boyne Viaduct will be unveiled publicly this Saturday as part of the town’s Festival of Ideas.
The Boyne Skywalk concept is being presented by Drogheda Cycling Group at The Barbican on Saturday, 19th September from 11am to 1pm.
The proposal imagines a walkway attached to the existing railway viaduct, creating a new connection across the River Boyne while offering elevated views over Drogheda.
Drogheda Cycling Group says the idea could improve links to MacBride railway station, connect with future riverside and greenway developments and give walkers and cyclists a new route between the two sides of the town.
Inspired by a similar project in France
The concept takes inspiration from Albi in southern France, where a pedestrian and cycle walkway opened alongside a 19th-century railway viaduct in May 2025.
The Passerelle d’Albi is a 180-metre structure attached to the side of the working railway viaduct.
It connects the historic centre with the opposite bank of the River Tarn and includes five viewing platforms looking back towards the city’s historic skyline.
Drogheda Cycling Group believes there are strong parallels between Albi and Drogheda, with both towns divided by a river, active railway infrastructure and pressure on existing river crossings.
The Drogheda proposal is not a copy of the French project, but uses it as an example of how a working railway structure can also accommodate pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
Albi Bridge
A new role for the Boyne Viaduct?
The Boyne Viaduct opened in 1855 and remains one of Drogheda’s most recognisable landmarks.
The structure carries the Dublin to Belfast railway line across the River Boyne and is listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as being of architectural, historical and technical significance.
The viaduct was also a major engineering achievement of its time, with its wrought-iron lattice construction helping to advance bridge engineering in the 19th century.
More than 170 years after its opening, Drogheda Cycling Group is asking whether the landmark could take on another role while continuing to carry rail traffic.
Part of the Festival of Ideas
The Boyne Skywalk presentation is part of the 2026 Festival of Ideas, which runs in Drogheda from 17th to 20th September.
The wider festival explores themes including dereliction, vacancy, urban renewal, planning and new ways of using existing spaces across the town.
The Boyne Skywalk event will give the public its first opportunity to see the concept in detail and hear the thinking behind it.
According to the organisers, the idea has already received support from a number of local and regional organisations, including Louth County Council, Fáilte Ireland and Drogheda Port.
Entry to Saturday’s presentation is free, but places are limited, and advance registration is required through Eventbrite.
