Proposed toll could cause road rage

THE Government is steering a collision course with Clare motorists if it adopts a recommendation from the National Roads Authority to toll the M18 Ennis bypass.

The warning was sounded this week by Ennisman John Lernihan, founder of the Irish Drivers Association, who described the suggestion as “crazy” and “another form of taxation”.
According to NRA figures, a toll of €1.80 on the Ennis bypass, with an average of 9,000 vehicles a day, would yield €16,200 in revenue each day.
Mr Lernihan insists the proposal to toll the bypass, which has to be approved by the Government, will lead to more congestion on the roads of Ennis.
The organisation, which has members nationwide, is to organise a public meeting to voice their concern about the proposal to toll the Ennis bypass and other identified roads.
“Motorists can’t take any more taxation, it’s as simple as that. This would basically bring back the bad old days in Ennis and there will be congestion again. People just won’t pay the toll. We already have a toll within 22 miles of us in Limerick and now they want another one on the bypass. That would not be acceptable to this organisation,” he said.
He went on, “The people coming up with these ideas don’t seem to realise there is a recession going on and people don’t have the money. You buy a car and there’s tax on that before you even fill up at the pumps. There’s servicing, VAT, insurance, levies and you can only tax your car for three, six or 12 months. No thought goes into these ideas. It’s just crazy.”
Mr Lernihan said his organisation would be contacting Clare’s four TDs to look for their support in opposing the proposals. “There will be an awful lot of people at the meeting against this. There is a limit to what people can pay,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Green Party councillor Brian Meaney pointed out there was no toll when the bypass was first proposed.
“At this point it is disingenuous to propose a toll for financial expediency,” he said.
The proposal to toll the Ennis bypass, along with other routes, is outlined in the NRA’s National Roads Traffic Management Study. If implemented, this would see a doubling in the number of tolled roads across the country.
At the moment, drivers pay €184 million a year to use tolled roads and the NRA has suggested the Exchequer could take in another €62m under these plans.
As well as the Ennis bypass, other routes earmarked as possible toll sites are the Jack Lynch Tunnel in Cork, the M1 Dundalk bypass, the N20 Croom–Limerick, the N20 Cork–Mallow and the N9 Carlow bypass.
The NRA suggests roads that could be tolled in the future are the N17/N18 Tuam bypass and the N11 Arklow bypass.