Locals and businesses in south Kildare have expressed concern about the construction of new cycle lanes which they say "start and end nowhere", and believe pose safety issues.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said the "pilot project" has been built to required standards and has passed road safety audits.
The 3km long lanes, which run on both sides of the R448 between the villages of Moone and Timolin, are reported to have cost around €1.6 million.
However local residents, farmers, hauliers and businesses in the two villages, which have fewer than 300 residents, say they never asked for the infrastructure and believe it has made the regional road more hazardous than before.
Mark Hilliard, who lives in Moone, said locals were taken by surprise when construction of the cycleways began in the summer.
"We woke up here on the 7 July to cones out on the road. We didn't really know what was going on, so we started to investigate and we found out that we were getting a new cycle route," he said.
"We felt there was no purpose in it, nobody requested it, nobody wanted it. It starts nowhere, it ends nowhere. It's in a rural community, there's 242 people here, a lot of them are over 65 and don't own a bike but nonetheless, we have it here.
"There are no ways of cycling to it. If you were to drive to it, there's nowhere to park a car. If it is designed for children on bikes, you've nowhere to park to take the kids bikes out of the car. We have received communication from TII to say it's about trying to gauge and to alter driver behaviour when they interact with a cycle lane like this.
"It's a pilot scheme for the National Cycle Network, although this part of the road is not on the National Cycle network and never will be."
He said locals feel the design of the road has made it less safe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.
"The design of the project has taken away the hard shoulder. We've had cars and lorries hitting kerbs. One car had €50,000 worth of damage to it.
"We're worried that somebody will be seriously injured and we're worried also that somebody could be killed and we've been trying to communicate our difficulties with TII and Kildare County Council, and we're kind of falling on deaf ears," he added.
Local cyclist Emily-Anne Doyle said she also believes the new cyclepaths make the road less safe to travel on.
"I used this road previously all the time. Now I feel I can't use this road," she said.
"This was a safe and convenient road and it no longer is. It's putting us in close proximity with walkers. I don't feel I'm safe, or they're safe. I lose priority at all the junctions, we're being shovelled off the road, back on, off the road, back on.
"It's almost akin to driving on a motorway and having to exit at every intersection that you come across."
Haulier Kevin-John Doody of Meadowbrook Farms said he is also finding the road difficult to navigate.
"Our main concerns are the kerbs, the way they vary in their width, in and out. As you come down along the carriageway there's no lighting, it's very badly illuminated, and people have already struck the kerbs with cars and trucks in the past few weeks, damaged wheels.
"So we're very concerned about that," he said.
Local farmer Karl Matuschk says travelling from the farm to the local co-op has now become more difficult.
"When we're traveling down with a tractor or with a combine, the cycle track is completely in our way. In the past, you could pull in when there was somebody coming towards you, or when there was somebody behind you who wanted to pass by," he said.
"Now we're holding up the traffic, they're backing up beside behind us, some of them get impatient and they overtake dangerously. It's not what we want at all."
He said accessing fields along the road is also proving problematic.
"Before this was built, we just pulled it into the hard shoulder, hopped off the tractor, opened the gate and drove in. Now, we have no hard shoulder anymore, so we have to stop on the road, check that there's no cyclists coming, then turn into the road and leave part of the tractor outside if it's a long load, open the gate and drive in while all these cars are whizzing past at great speed. It's too dangerous."
However, cyclist and Independent Kildare County councillor Bill Clear said he believes the new cycle lanes, which are due to be completed next month, will make the area safer.
"It makes it safer for walkers and cyclists on this road. We have a lot of people who are killed in rural Ireland out walking and out cycling, and this gives them a level of safety, a level of segregation, where they can walk on these national routes, which were formerly the main route," said Cllr Clear.
"The only way we're going to slow people down on these kind of roads is to engineer the problem away by putting in these interventions so people have to slow down."
Cllr Clear said he does agree with local criticism that the cycle lanes "start and end nowhere", describing the decision not to link two area with the route as "daft".
"I would prefer if they had put it between say, a village and a town or a town and a town. That would make more sense to people. They're probably getting a bit annoyed because all the road works and this disruption but I firmly believe once it's in, they will see the advantages of it."
In a statement, Transport Infrastructure Ireland said the cycle lanes are a pilot project which will continue to be assessed.
"Kildare County Council and TII have engaged directly with the local community; this is a pilot project and is due for completion in November 2025," the statement read.
"The scheme has been designed in line with all relevant standards and has already undergone independent road safety audits, with another audit due once construction is complete.
"The project went through a statutory process of the Road Traffic Act, which included a public consultation and public engagement will continue once the project is concluded as part of the assessment process."
