Council refutes claims about proposed motorway

Claims that the taxpayer will have to fork out over €352 million to construct a controversial new motorway through South-East Clare have been refuted by Clare County Council.
The Lisnagry Action Group, which is opposing the construction of Phase Two of the Northern Distributor Road, has predicted the length of this route is similar to the existing Southern Ring Road, which cost about €352 million to complete.
The proposed road has been recommended initially by the Fitzgerald Report (2007) on ‘Addressing issues of social exclusion in Moyross’.
Since then, the group pointed out circumstances have changed after the downturn in the economy, the opening of the Limerick Tunnel and the subsequent drop in the projected volume of traffic.
Currently, due to lower than projected volume of traffic through the tunnel the operator (Direct Route) is subsidised annually to the average amount of €6.7 million.
The contract between the NRA and the tunnel operators is to run until 2035. Even with the current volume of traffic, the group warned the cost to taxpayer over the lifetime of the contract could be well over €153 million.
It claimed this figure could even be higher if the volume of traffic declines further as a result of  the new motorway.
“In spite of all this, Clare County Council has forged ahead with the appointment of Roughan & O’Donovan to carry out the preliminary work on this motorway at the cost of €1.325 million to the taxpayer. Subsequently, a number of routes were recommended by the consultants and a period of so called consultation was to follow. It is worth noting that all the consultations were held in County Clare and most of the County Limerick residents affected by the proposal and their county councillors were not made aware of the consultation phase,” the  group stated.
“The five recommended routes with docking points at the Groody roundabout, Kilmurray roundabout, Vistakon roundabout and the Dublin Road/Cappamore Junction were proposed,” they continued.
“Considering the docking point at the Dublin Road/Cappamore Junction, this would necessitate a bridge over the river Shannon, and a two kilometre road possibly on stilts, through a flood plain, to reach the new traffic lights at this junction. The proposed bridge would cross the river Shannon at a wide point of 115 metres which, compared to for example the Vistakon option, which would clearly be a cheaper option where there is a 60m river crossing.
“This would at least double the cost of crossing the river Shannon for this project. In these difficult times, can we afford to be so wasteful? In relation to the length of the road the Vistakon option would have only 0.5 kilometre of new road in comparison to the two kilometre road required for the Dublin road/Cappamore option,” the group added.
The group estimated the Dublin road/Cappamore option would necessitate an extra bridge €3 million over the Mulcair River while the proposed emerging preferred route Dublin road/Cappamore docking point option would cost the taxpayer an additional €87 million compared with other options.
It noted obtaining some land owned by Shannon Development as part of the Vistakon option, which are already state owned would not cost the taxpayer and questioned if the Emerging Preferred Route was the best option when “there are simple, alternative, cheaper solutions”
Senior engineer, Tom Tiernan explained Clare County Council is pursuing the development of this motorway on foot of a need identified in a number of reports commissioned over the past 10 years.
These reports were commissioned to identify, among other things, the elements of infrastructure which should be provided to facilitate the strategic development of Limerick and the Mid-West into the future.
“This is not a development for today, but for the future. We have to plan on the basis that there will be a recovery in the economy and we have to be ready to benefit when that happens. It is unlikely that this road will become operational within the next 10 years.
“The current estimated cost is in the region of €100 to €120 million. There are good reasons why the Vistakon option wasn’t selected as the emerging Preferred Route Corridor and these were explained to people who enquired at a recent Public Consultation Event in the Radisson Hotel, Limerick.
“At the appropriate time, Clare County Council will be able to demonstrate that the cost/benefit ratio pertaining to this proposal is very significantly positive,” he said.