Parteen residents oppose route for €100m road

A GROUP of angry residents in Parteen are organising a demonstration to oppose the proposed preferred route for the second phase of the controversial €100 million Limerick Northern Distributor Road.
It is planned to hold a protest march on Saturday, February 11, starting at 10am through the village of Parteen. Residents are asking everyone concerned or affected, and those in neighbouring communities, to come out and show their support and solidarity.
Over 200 residents of Parteen, Ardnacrusha and Clonlara voiced their strong objections against the route at a public meeting in Parteen National School on Monday night. It was decided to establish a new steering group to prepare an action opposition plan in addition to raising public awareness about the route.
A number of residents and political representatives expressed their frustration and surprise that a Draft Constraints Study prepared for Clare County Council has not been made available to the public.
One of the key aims of the meeting was to push back the deadline for the consultation phase past February 16. There was consensus amongst the gathered crowd that this is too short a period of time to make submissions when the council have had a limitless amount of time to prepare their report and study the route options.
Late on Wednesday, Clare County Council confirmed it is to extend the deadline to March 12.
According to Tom Tiernan, project manager and senior engineer with Clare County Council, “The council was delighted with the response received at the recent public consultation event at the Radisson Hotel. Over 450 people attended the event, which underlined the huge public interest in the proposed project.
“Information on the emerging Preferred Route Corridor for Phase 2 will remain on display in the Westbury Area Office, Áras Contae an Chláir, Limerick City Hall, Limerick County Hall and Limerick County Council’s Area Office in Annacotty.”
Views expressed during the consultation exercise will be considered in the context of the emerging Preferred Route Corridor for the scheme. Design of the Limerick Northern Distributor Road (Phase 2) will progress based on the corridor to be accepted following the public consultation process, leading to the publication of an environmental impact statement and compulsory purchase order in due course.
The final determination of the planning process will rest with An Bord Pleanála.
Dismay and disbelief were expressed  at the recent meeting by many residents that the route chosen would cut through the village of Parteen, dividing the community in two and, farther on down towards Clonlara, will cross a flood plain, which has flooded very seriously on a number of occasions in the last few years and regularly in the last 40, according to those present.
Mayor of Clare, Councillor Pat Hayes had requested a copy of the Constraints Study but was informed the council isn’t in a position to release it at this time. Councillor Hayes stressed people have a right to know why the preferred route was selected.
Clare Deputy Micheal McNamara and Limerick East Deputies Willie O’Dea and Kieran O’Donnell promised to raise the matter of the road in the Dáil with Transport Minister Varadkar.
Deputy McNamara claimed it is “nonsensical” to build a new road from Parteen Village to Limerick City, considering the existing road, which was full of potholes, could easily be upgraded at a fraction of the cost.
Questioning the need for the Northern Distributor Road, Deputy McNamara pointed out motorists could now travel from Annacotty to Coonagh on a new motorway, which was built at considerable cost to the taxpayer. He also expressed concern about the viability of building a new bridge across the River Shannon in this area, considering the Government is already committed to providing a new river crossing linking Ballina and Killaloe.
Deputy O’Dea stated any capital spend of this nature would have to be highly justified and to base such justification on a study and a report that no-one outside the roads department of Clare County Council has seen is not realistic in this day and age and even more so in the current economic climate.
All the East Clare councillors, who attended the public meeting, criticised the non-availability of the Draft Constraints Study at a recent Killaloe Electoral Area meeting.
Councillor Cathal Crowe described the €500,000 allocated for the Northern Distributor Road as misguided, as he felt it could be put to much better use upgrading regional and local roads in South-East Clare.
Councillor Crowe questioned the need for this road, following the decline in commuter traffic over the last four or five years.
Since 2010, Councillor Crowe claimed several hundred thousand euro has been spent by the Department of Transport in analysing the topography and residential communities of South-East Clare to identify a potentially suitable route for the Limerick Northern Distributor Road.
The communities subjected to this scrutiny became part of a “constraints study area”. In recent weeks, the Constraints Study Report has been drafted and an ‘emerging preferred route’ has been identified.
Councillor Crowe criticised the fact the constraints study was not put on public display during the recent information meeting, which incensed many people. Having questioned the legitimacy of the public consultation process given that the Constraints Study Report has been withheld from the public, Councillor Crowe requested this report from the council and was told it couldn’t accede to his request.
He is now taking legal advice on the matter, as he believes residents have a right to full access to this document.
Councillor Fitzgerald told The Clare Champion the huge attendance from Parteen, Ardnacrusha and Gillogue reflects the level of opposition to the preferred route. Criticising the non-publication of the constraints study, Councillor Fitzgerald stressed local residents are entitled to find out why other routes were ruled out.
“People are angry because of the lack of adequate information. People want to know who is making the decisions and why these decisions are being made. I oppose the proposed route, which divides Parteen in two.
“Will people in Parteen still be able to walk down to their local shop? Councillors should have been given more information to provide to our constituents and more time, not a week before the public consultation meeting,” he said.