M20 - Cork to Limerick [preferred route chosen; in design - phase 3]

Schadenfreudia wrote: »

The solution to that is more housing; more transport infrastructure (DU, MN) and the Naas - Drogheda motorway bypass - plus lots more.

That's what they do in the rest of the world in growing cities - only in Ireland is begrudgery and parish pumpery a serious input into the equation.

Dublin is not growing at the expense of anywhere else - other than that globally there is a move from rural areas to cities.

If we want another major city in Ireland then pick one or two - Cork plus either Limerick or Galway and build up a critical mass - globally cities are the engines of growth and prosperity.

The factory in every parish mentality has utterly failed to develop any viable alternative to Dublin for investment and growth.

Strangling Dublin's growth will not add a single job to Ballygobackwards. :mad:

Hold on a second - what about technological evolution and the social changes that will come with it. In fact, cities as we know them may well be an old thinking as the nature of much of the industry is about to be turned on its head - continued development of 3D printers and resultant de-industrialization regarding many products in the future, cloud computing and increasingly interactive telecommunications, smart grid and e-cars, virtual reality, modular building technology etc, etc, etc, What I'm really saying is that technology which brought with it mass production (a major reason for cities) is about to take much of it away again - we're going full circle in other words.

In fact, the biggest Ballygobackwards is the traditional economic system as we know it today - inflexible and increasingly cumbersome and apathetic... With a major economic overhaul, will we really need cities in the future given that more and more arts and crafts (indigenous industry) are becoming possible regardless of location. Look at music production now - are the major labels really needed given that people can have entire studios on computers and produce music to professional standard from anywhere - will the current labels survive??? Now, transpose that ideology to 3D printing and resultant products - the only mass produced element related to 3D printing will be the bass material for the products (of course, the printers themselves too), but even that will be homogenous just like bread and milk is in Ireland today and the former will probably be manufacturable in any country by medium sized businesses. With ever evolving blueprints in the cloud, any household item including cars could become possible to produce anywhere by 2100.

Just food for thought!

marno21 wrote: »

It was this government that has completely binned the project. If it's such a top priority for the current government, they could start the planning process and do the CPO's while it awaits funding. But they genuinely look like they don't care about it so all this 'top priority' nonsense is total waffle

Indeed; just like DU, they needed to allocate just €300m spread over the next 5 years for CPOs to keep the project alive - instead they binned it; setting it back a decade even if the Government wanted to suddenly build it.

THE stalled M20 motorway project between Cork and Limerick will be a “priority” when government spending plans are reviewed in two year’s time, Tánaiste Joan Burton has pledged.

Of course, Joan won't be in office in two year's time - so this is just more gibberish. :mad:

Carnacalla wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/state-pays-120000-a-week-to-subsidise-road-toll-operators-26823315.html

According to this article 19,400 users were expected on the Shannon Tunnel. With the figure now at 20,000, does that mean no more state subsidies?

Probably.

But journalists don't find infrastructural goods news storeys very interesting.

Limerick74 wrote: »

Unfortunately the traffic guarantee goes up a thousand or so every year so the 19,400 is probably more like 23,400 now and the state subsidies continue.

Goes up until it reaches what number? 25,000?