N24 Limerick-Waterford upgrade

wellbutty wrote: »

How did the public consultation go today Furet? Wanted to go but couldn't make it in the end

Dear Sir/Madam,


After studying the map of the emerging route corridor for the N24 Clonmel Bypass, I consider the inclusion of just two junctions at either end of the scheme to be insufficient. While I fully acknowledge that national primary roads are principally for long-distance traffic rather than for local use, the fact that the proposed route crosses two regional roads in quick succession presents an opportunity to better connect both Cashel and Fethard with the South East via the N24.

If a junction is not included for these regional roads, motorists wishing to join the new N24 from either of these towns and their hinterlands will have to travel onto the existing Clonmel Relief Road (CRR) and then proceed east or west to join the N24. This will not only add to their journey times, but will also fail to eliminate as much of the through-traffic from the CRR as possible; furthermore, it will, over the course of years, increase carbon emissions by virtue of the increased journey times and resulting congestion on the CRR.

I would therefore like to suggest:

• the addition of a LILO junction where the proposed N24 crosses the R689
• the addition of a LILO junction where the proposed N24 crosses the R688

OR

• the addition of one LILO junction on the proposed N24 midway between the R688 and R689. The R688 and R689 could be connected to this LILO via a new spur that would link both these regional roads with the N24.

I would encourage the designers to avoid using roundabout junctions and to instead opt for LILO junctions at least.

Residents angry at proposed new route for Carrick-on-Suir by-pass

Published Date: 10 November 2010
By Aileen Hahesy

A campaign of opposition to the new proposed preferred Carrick-on-Suir Bypass route corridor was launched at a public meeting attended by about 60 residents and landowners last Saturday.

The meeting in the Carraig Hotel in Carrick-on-Suir was organised by the Cregg Road and Deadman's Boreen Residents Committee, whose members live along part of the new preferred route corridor.

Speakers appealed to residents and landowners living in other areas along the "emerging preferred" route corridor to lodge submissions highlighting their concerns to South Tipperary Co. Council as soon as possible.

The original closing date for receipt of submissions was November 5. But following lobbying by residents and local politicians the deadline is now extended to Monday, November 22.

The original preferred route corridor for the bypass was chosen in 2003. It was closer to Carrick-on-Suir and was a single carriageway.
But In 2008, the National Roads Authority carried out a review of the project and decided a dual carriageway was required and that a new preferred route corridor should be selected.

The Co. Council is currently engaging in a public consultation process for the new corridor it has chosen, which is the same as the previous corridor from Kilheffernan to Ballydine but goes further north of Carrick-on-Suir and into Co. Kilkenny. Details and maps of the route are available at the Co. Council offices in Clonmel and at Carrick Town Council.

Deirdre Walsh of the Cregg Road and Deadman's Boreen Residents Committee warned at the public meeting that if the Council didn't receive enough submissions, it would confirm the preferred route without any changes.
"Some people will feel they can't stand in the way of progress. However everyone affected by this should put their views to the Co. Council. You must do this without delay," she said.

Ms Walsh said the bypass would bring noise and light pollution increase air pollution and also seriously impact on the rural environment and community.
The road would cut communities in half and also devalue homes by possibly 30%.

She also argued that the new preferred route was too far from Carrick-on-Suir and would require motorists to do a detour to get to the town.
She estimated Carrick-on-Suir would lose about 35% of the trade it received from traffic passing through the town.

Ms Walsh urged other communities along the preferred route to set up committees to get involved in the campaign of opposition.
And she said residents and landowners needed to lobby their local councillors and TDs.

Bob Fitzgerald, also of the Cregg Road and Deadman's Boreen Residents Committee, said he was extremely annoyed at the way the Council handled the public consultation process and accused the Council of denying the people of the town their rights.

He criticised the location and content of the press adverts about the public consultation evening in October and pointed out that many people hadn't known about the forum. He also criticised the format of the public consultation forum where residents approached council officials privately to ask them questions. There should have been a public meeting with a panel of experts answering questions, he argued.

Mr Fitzgerald said the Council had considered four possible routes but refused to give them access to the maps for those other routes.

"How in God's name in the public interest and in the interest of transparency can we make a submission if we are not given access to all the information," he said.

Mr Fitzgerald also questioned the need to upgrade the bypass to a dual carriageway with a capacity for 40,000 vehicles a day.

He claimed the population projections on which the predicted traffic volumes for the bypas were based were flawed. The increase in emigration and return of foreign immigrants to their home countries hadn't been taken into account and would reduce the traffic volumes by 12%, he argued.

He claimed the location of the bypass's proposed access junction to the town near Blarney Woollen Mills meant it would be three minutes quicker for motorists to drive to Clonmel than to Carrick-on-Suir. "This will kill the economic life of Carrick-on-Suir, a town that is already on its knees," he declared.

Ann-Marie Power of the Killonerry, Bawngarriff and Garnarea Residents Association, whose members also live along the preferred route corridor, said the road would go straight through the front garden of their new home, which they had only moved into a year ago.

Members of their association were unanimously opposed to the new preferred bypass route, she said. They were concerned about local roads being turned into cul de sacs, about people being cut off from other family members and about getting from one place to another.

Deputy Mayor of Carrick-on-Suir Cllr Patsy Fitzgerald said he was personally not in favour of the by pass and pledged to do what he could at Town Council level to assist the campaign.

Co. Council Director of Road Services Billy McEvoy said all submissions received by the Council would be taken into account before the Council's final report on the route corridor was submitted to the NRA for approval.
He stressed that the Council was only considering the general route corridor at the moment and the detailed design of the route won't take place until the next stage of the planning process. There would be further opportunities for the public to make their views known on the route at later stages in the process, he said.

Mr McEvoy acknowledged there would be some local impact no matter where the bypass was built but the Council would try to mitigate such impacts at the detailed design stage.

Mr McEvoy rejected suggestions the bypass would be economically detrimental to Carrick-on-Suir, pointing out that this hadn't been the experience of many other towns bypassed around the country. The arguement about falling traffic volumes was fair, he said, but the Council had to plan the road for future traffic growth in the event the country's economic circumstances improved. It would be more costly to add onto the bypass route in the future.

Mr McEvoy also defended the Council's handling of the public consultation process. He believed there had been sufficient notification and pointed out public debate about the route corridor was taking place now. On last month's public consultation session organised by the Council, he said many people preferred to speak to Council officials privately and felt intimidated in a public meeting setting.