N2 - Slane Bypass [planning decision pending]

That's very specious coming from Frank. As a man who makes his living through words he should know that his formulation is quite ambiguous and suggests that the road will be within 500m of one of the extant monuments.

Frank McDonald, all I can say as a Meathman is:

Stay out of Meath!

Maybe Dublin isn't doing things your way (M50 Upgrade, N4 Upgrade, N7 Upgrade, DPT, R136 etc), and if you think Meath will succumb to you fanatical thinking instead, think again - we will build whatever road we want and no, we're not knocking down Tara, Newgrange or any other major heritage site for that matter - Meath is a big county you know - plenty of room for motorways - and spaghettis for that matter!

In short, don't tempt us! :mad:

Frank Mcdonald is very clever. He uses fancy language to makes this sound like the end of the world.

Frank says: “The National Roads Authority is bent on pursuing a plan that would visually compromise the setting of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”

Note the use of the word ‘setting’….

The relevant extracts from the EIS are as follows:

Newgrange:
“…combined with mitigation of obtrusive elements and screening of the main road corridor the development would not detract from the pastoral image of the landscape from this ancient viewpoint”

Knowth:
“Subject to mitigation over time of obtrusive elements and screening of the main road corridor the bridge itself would not detract from the timeless, pastoral landscape enjoyed from this ancient viewpoint”

Dowth:
“The new road corridor to the south of the river would be barely perceptible as it ran along the fringes of Cullen Hill from the N2 between the landmarks of Newgrange and Slane Hill. The river crossing would not be visible from this viewpoint. Appropriate screen and woodland planting would ensure, at this distance, its complete integration in the landscape”

Given that Knowth is the closest I have uploaded the pictures from the EIS that show the existing view from Knowth and a computer generate view after the bypass is in place. There is a bridge there but you have to hunt for it! This not that surprising as it is 1 mile and half away. Pictures can be seen here

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=286896560291&view=user#!/photo.php?pid=58848&op=1&o=user&view=user&subj=286896560291&aid=-1&oid=286896560291&id=100000673604505

Note also the existing very busy N51 can also be seen passing 0.7 miles from Knowth and this has not caused a problem.

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

PPPs are the only way to go I reckon at the moment. Slane will be put on the back burner as its the route for the M1 toll dodgers and with FF in the pocket of the toll companies a handshake will be made not to build Slane.

Chris...

...if the very thing you're saying about undermining toll dodgers come to fruition, then it can be challenged (AFAIK) under EU law which dictates that there must be a reasonable alternative route to a toll road. For the M1 Toll, that would be the N2 via Slane or the R132 via Drogheda and Julianstown, of which the latter (with 20k CPUs) is also calling for a bypass. Slane itself is dangerous (and therefore not a reasonable alternative) and the locals seem prepared to take no more - they have a powerful lobby to get the bypass built - power to them as far as I'm concerned, and to hell with this nonsense relating to Newgrange. Julianstown is also becoming problematic trafficwise.

On a general note...

...as a Meathman, I'm very proud of Newgrange - a place to which I've being living quite near for 34 years. It is there to stay and will never be destroyed - neither will Tara etc. IMO however, we must preserve the state's national monuments for ourselves rather than for foreign interests who would like to visit such places without seeing sight nor light of us Irish and our daily lives - how dare they! :mad:

Oh yes, some world heritage spokesman was talking about the way that the M1 Boyne Bridge could be seen from Newgrange and how it (with its illumination and aircraft light) spoiled the experience, and that the Slane Bypass will do more damage - so is he suggesting that we Irish have no right to live our lives? - well let me get things straight here: Newgrange belongs to the Irish people and is not the reserve of any fanatical tourist who likes to think of Ireland as some pixie land with leprechauns, country lanes and thatched cottages - we will build roads where we want and when we want, and if any foreign tourist doesn't like it, then they should PFO!

Regards!

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Fair play to the people of Slane for fighting for the bypass (rather than against, as usually happens) but unfortunately we've seen exactly how successful they've been so far.

Well election time is not too far away - just over 2 years left for the Government now, and by a tread. I'm sure the FF TDs for Meath East will want to see the project go ahead in 2011 - for their sake!

Regards!

An interesting piece from Edgar Morgenroth last March:

A number of stories on roads funding have been in the media over the last few weeks.

Firstly, Frank McDonald in a piece in the Irish Times had a go at the motorway building programme of the NRA. In particular he criticises the plans for the Slane bypass (N2 Dublin to Derry). That story was also picked up in Today FM’s Last Word (Matt Cooper) last Thursday.

The rationale for the bypass project involving a new bridge over the river Boyne is straightforward. Currently a significant volume of traffic of which about a quarter is HGVs (some 1600 per day) negotiate the steep valley on both sides of the river which is crossed via a narrow bridge. The nature of the roads has been blamed for a number of serious accidents involving HGVs, and hence the bypass is to be built to reduce accidents.

But why are there so many HGVs on a road connecting Ashbourne (population 6500) with Ardee (population 4000)? The answer is simple once on considers that the N2 runs almost parallel to the tolled M1, which is both quicker and safer. In other words the HGVs are on the N2 to avoid the toll, and now the tax payer is going to help them avoid the toll by building a new expensive bridge and dual carriageway. The simple, cheap and obvious solution to the problem of HGVs going through Slane is to ban them from doing so, as I argued in May 2009. This would also avoid all the hassle of forcing a major construction project through an area rich in archaeological sites and historic significance. I wonder is this a case for the Comptroller and Auditor General?

http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2010/03/01/wasting-money-on-roads/

It is interesting that once you look past the posturing of VS he does not deny that the Western route around Slane described in the additional information is totally impractical. It is twice as long, and has a much greater impact on the landscape and known archeological features compared to the proposed eastern bypass.

Don’t forget that VS and his cohorts lectured everybody for months on how the Western bypass was much better that the proposed Eastern bypass. Instead he is continues to plays fast and loose with words when he says

“If it comes to a choice between passing 500m from Slane Castle or 500m from Bru na Boinne, it is a no-brainer.”

For those who do not understand the details, it is worth point pointing that the Western route does indeed pass 500m from back door of Slane Castle right through the middle of an Archeological Conservation Area whereas the Eastern bypass passes through a farmer’s field 500m from the outer edge of the 33 sq km buffer zone around Bru Na Boinne. In fact the eastern route is almost 2.5 km from Knowth and 4km from Newgrange. It will be barely visible from Knowth

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=58848&fbid=102116906487429&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=286896560291&id=100000673604505

It will not be possible to see the bypass at all from Newgrange.

He is still droning on calling for the infamous HGV ban knowing full well that Meath County Council have already said this is not practical and even if some very expensive HGV ban was somehow put in place to ban some trucks there still would be a huge volume of both trucks and cars passing over a 600 year old single bridge designed for horse drawn carriages at the bottom of a deadly hill that has killed 22 people so far.

MYOB :

Anybody can comment but its costs E50. Submissions or observations in relation to the additional information may be made in writing on payment of a fee of 50 euro to:
An Bord Pleanala, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1
not later than 5.30pm on the 15th October 2010. Telephone 01-858-1000