Blake’s Corner resolution in 2014?

***The year in review***

BLAKE’S Corner in Ennistymon was consistently in the news during 2012 but those hoping the traffic issues at the junction will be resolved will have to wait until at least 2014.
Back in January, it was revealed at a North Clare area meeting that Clare County Council would have to spend an extra €100,000 on a new Environmental Impact Study (EIS) to facilitate proposed improvement works at the busy junction following new national planning regulations introduced in 2011, provoking outrage amongst local county councillors.
This outrage was revisited in December when An Bord Pleanála confirmed an EIS would have to be completed before work on the destruction and reconstruction of the Blake’s and Linnane’s buildings could begin.
The council is proposing to do the work on the buildings as part of a change to the layout of the junction connecting the N85 and N67.
The board directed the authority to prepare an EIS in respect of the proposed road development because works “would be likely to have significant effects on the environment”.
Speaking after the decision was announced, the county’s senior engineer Tom Tiernan said work could not begin before 2014.
“Pending receipt of relevant approvals and confirmation of availability of funding, the earliest that construction work could get underway is 2014,” he said.
This prompted one local representative to call on the council and the National Roads Authority to disregard existing plans and come up with a new, more ambitious solution to the ongoing congestion problem.
“If the problem is allowed to continue, visitors will stop coming to the area and this will have serious consequences for everyone in North Clare. If this problem existed in the town of Ennis, it would have been resolved years ago. I am disappointed that something more positive was not done during the Celtic Tiger years. At this stage, I think that Clare County Council and the NRA should go back to the drawing board and come up with different proposals such as a new bridge over the river after all if the council can get funding for a new inner relief road for Ennis and the northern relief road for Killaloe and millions was spent on the road to nowhere on the Gort Road in Ennis, so why should the people of North Clare put up with this farce any longer,” Councillor Bill Slattery said.
According to the An Bord Pleanála documents, the proposed development at the corner would involve the deconstruction of the two protected structures and their reconstruction 10-12m back from the public road (N67); the construction of a mini-roundabout junction of the N85 and N67; works to the existing Ennistymon Bridge to include the removal of the footpath and the construction of a walkway or boardwalk on the southern side of the bridge. The vacant footpath space on the bridge will be incorporated into the carriageway width and a pedestrian crossing is proposed just east of the Ennistymon Bridge.
Responding to the decision by An Bord Pleanála indicating that an EIS would be required, Mr Tiernan said, “Clare County Council indicated to An Bord Pleanála that it considered that an EIS would be appropriate in this case and An Bord Pleanála has now confirmed that it agrees with this. We now have greater clarity as regards what planning strategy is to be followed.”
“Approval has been sought from the NRA to appoint a consultant and a response is awaited. Depending on the scope, yet to be finalised, an EIS can cost anything from €50,000 to €150,000,” he said.
The council has already spent in the region of €600,000 purchasing the Blake’s and Linnane’s properties and a further €10,000 to €15,000 on a report recommending the buildings be deconstructed and reconstructed back from the narrow junction and the road widened. The report was withheld from elected members of the council after four out of five of the local councillors voted against it being released to them or the public. In total, in addition to the cost of the buildings, the council has spent a total of €25,000 on the process to this stage, according to the county’s senior engineer.