National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2009 onwards

Sponge Bob

Indicative Project list agreed between Dept of Finance and NRA as Multi year Funding Envelope.

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2009

1. Gort-Crusheen
2. Newlands Cross (if enough people make a fuss otherwise 2010)

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2010

1. Arklow - Rathnew
2. Longford Bypass

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2011

1. Galway Bypass

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2012

1. N20 Croom - Mallow
2. N18 Athenry - GORT

No timescale for anything else.

Chris_533976

Entire of N20 may be a PPP so that could change.

NRA are having a meeting mid November to discuss the priorities of various schemes, so this could change. I would hope that the Galway bypass gets priority over the Longford bypass anyway.

Gort-Crusheen still may be later this year, I noticed in my travels today that a heap of new fencing has appeared around Crusheen.

Also you can add Athenry - Gort to 2010 too.

Sponge Bob

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Entire of N20 may be a PPP so that could change.

As could the N17 which is now unprogrammed or even a Gort-Tuam PPP.

Also you can add Athenry - Gort to 2010 too.

I checked, no I can't !

This menu is what will be presented to the board of the NRA shortly .

road_high

No New Ross bypass or Castleisland bypass I notice. Numerous others i'm sure left off the list. What happened to all the big budget surpluses they were supposedly running up until lately . Certainly didn't spend it on transport thats for sure...

Sponge Bob

They will run ****ing MASSIVE budget deficits in 2009 and 2010 of which National Roads Projects shall account for €1.5-€2bn in each of those years as they finish off the MIUs .

That is if they start Nothing from now on.

They feel the need to keep some consortia ticking over on life support by drip feeding them a tendering opportunity or two every year .

orbital83

Chris_533976 wrote: »

I would hope that the Galway bypass gets priority over the Longford bypass anyway.

As you are located in Galway, that's hardly surprising.

OP - when you say "Longford bypass", do you mean a bypass of the town alone - or the dualling of the N4 between Mullingar and Rooskey?
The latter is much needed: Mullingar-Longford is getting dangerous as a single carriageway with the volumes of traffic using it.

Sponge Bob

The N5 Longford Bypass ( about 3k ) is the one I mean.

The N4 Mullingar - Longford section is at Route Selection , it will not finish all its design and public consultation and inspectors hearings before 2012 after which it may join the queue of other road projects in the same situation .

That situation will be ready to build but no money .

L1011

Sponge Bob wrote: »

The N5 Longford Bypass ( about 3k ) is the one I mean.

The N4 Mullingar - Longford section is at Route Selection , it will not finish all its design and public consultation and inspectors hearings before 2012 after which it may join the queue of other road projects in the same situation .

That situation will be ready to build but no money .

This sounds familiar....

Oh yes, Northern Ireland.

SeanW

John J wrote: »

As you are located in Galway, that's hardly surprising.

OP - when you say "Longford bypass", do you mean a bypass of the town alone - or the dualling of the N4 between Mullingar and Rooskey?
The latter is much needed: Mullingar-Longford is getting dangerous as a single carriageway with the volumes of traffic using it.

Both are badly needed - the town's traffic problem at peak times is at meltown levels. The N5 bypass was less than 3km of single carriageway and should have gone ahead without delay, the N4 dualling will likely likewise end up on the very long finger. Between that and the closure of Connolly Barracks, I'm starting to think that the only time this government thinks of Longford is when it's time to make cutbacks.

Sponge Bob

I can understand why the expensive Galway Bypass is delayed until 2011 , thats if it ever gets built , but the c.€12m Longford Bypass is such a petty cutback

BluntGuy

Well we'll have to see what happens over the coming weeks...

The M20 and M17 may be tolled so perhaps they will get away with being built. But I don't see an earlier than 2012 start-date for either of them anyway.

DWCommuter

If you think the 2009 budget was harsh, then just wait until the 2010 one. IMO anything scheduled for 2010 or beyond is pretty much doomed. Newlands X could catch a break due to the sheer importance of it. Im not sure either about PPPs as financing is sparse all over the globe right now.

Doom - gloom and more doom etc.

Sponge Bob

DWCommuter wrote: »

If you think the 2009 budget was harsh, then just wait until the 2010 one. IMO anything scheduled for 2010 or beyond is pretty much doomed. Newlands X could catch a break due to the sheer importance of it.

That is the picture , yes. Newlands X is probably the only project guaranteed to start in the next decade as things look now . Everything else is dead . Really Really REALLY dead....and most especially when Frank Fahey says it is still alive.

He was in the Galway papers again this week , the liar

I' m not sure either about PPPs as financing is sparse all over the globe right now.

I agree with that , the only possible PPP package that would be realistic in the next few years would be an M9 extension northwards to Navan and to Drogheda, namely the Outer Orbital project .

This , of course, is 5 years off starting at least seeing as they have not even started route selection and will not in 2009 .

Every other potential PPP kicked about .eg the N17 and N20 basically does not carry enough traffic and would cost too much .

Everything west of the Shannon always costs too much for the dept of Finance

trellheim

Gort-Crusheen should be tolled

The Longford bypass for the N5 will be extremely welcome it's one of the last major bottlenecks on the radials

Sponge Bob

Too close to the Limerick tunnel toll . It would be somewhat invidious to toll 2 stretches 30 km apart .

The ' general principle' as I understand it ( in Finance) is that stretches less than 50km apart are not tolled . By that logic they could toll Gort - Athenry however and there was a vague plan earlier this year to toll _somewhere_ between Ennis and Athenry .

By the exact same logic there could also be a toll somewhere between Mallow and Charleville when that gets nearer being launched.

That satisfies another ' general principle' that every Inter City run has at least 1 toll .

In the current climate it is also likely that the only way to attract competitive PPP contractors is to plan for tolling .

There are plans to toll the N9 somwhere north of Carlow as part of the Outer Orbital PPP .

The reason for the introduction of this toll is twofold.

1. It is a teaser to attract contractor interest because they can toll the N9 immediately thereby generating cashflow

2. Because Dublin - Waterford is the only significant motorway that is not tolled at all where there are two tolls between Dublin and Limerick which is the same distance or a tad more.

BluntGuy

Well, I think the M20 will be physically tolled, along with the M9. I have serious doubts about the viability of the M17 at the moment though...

Chris_533976

M17 is still likely.

Claregalway takes 24k per day. Now lets assume that 20k (say) of it takes the M17 when built. I know it wont quite be that high, but adding the people that will use it instead of the current N17 and the extra traffic the motorway will generate, 20k is a reasonable figure.

The N8 near Kilworth takes 16k at the moment, lets say about 12k of that uses the Fermoy Bypass toll.

So straight away a tolled M17 is more profitable (potentially) than the M8 toll.

Also, the M7 at Portlaiose (east of the M7/M8 split that is proposed), takes 24k. Thats getting tolled.

13k use the current N6 east of Ballinasloe, that'll probably equate to about 13-15k using the toll on the M6 Ballinasloe-Galway section.

So yeah, the M17 is very likely to be built if there is going to be a toll on it. It'll be more successful than some of the tolled roads that are out there.

N20 at Rathduff takes 16k, so about the same as the Fermoy bypass which got built.

M17 and M20 will be PPPs and both will be built, despite what Mr Negative keeps saying.

Sponge Bob

That shortlist will be built sometime but not by 2015 Crhis and likely only as TOLLED PPP roads .

None of the rest of the Atlantic corridor will even be started by 2015 . Get out of that willye

I am not being negative either , merely truthful . I do recall that you posted this comment below apropos the 2 N18 contracts back in May Chris .

I do not believe you sought to mislead anyone but I do believe that you were seriously misled by your sources or that your sources may not have then realised that the fiscal arithmetic had changed dramatically in the first quarter of the year.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=54685887&postcount=29

The NRA tell me that they anticipate construction beginning in Q4 2008. But how much work will be done before then (as they do) I dont know.

The N18 Oranmore to Gort and the N18 Gort to Crusheen schemes are currently out to Tender.

Tenders are due to be returned in mid 2008 and construction is scheduled to start in Q4 2008.

Archaeological and environmental works required to be undertaken in advance of construction are in progress.

I responded, also in may

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=55905118&postcount=35

I have just been informed that this road is not now proceeding this year or next or any other year UNLESS the NRA can organise a tolled PPP scheme .

I know it was announced in January that it would be but that is not the case today .

Same with Gort -Athenry until the Gort - Crusheen scheme status is finalised.

Athenry - Tuam cancelled although this may now mean a Claregalway bypass actually has a chance of being built as a cheap alternative.

Galway Outer Bypass will be tolled if it ever gets the go ahead from Bord Pleanala.

There has been some shuffling of paper since. The Dept of Finance conceded that having two proximate tolls would be unfair therefore removing an obstacle to Gort-Crusheen . That still does not mean that Gort Crusheen will be built in the next few years but at this moment in time it looks likely that it will.

They did get their way on pulling all the rest of those schemes , just like I predicted they would.

I have not spoken to my sources about tolling, I will revert to the group when I find out what is happening there, most likely late next month after the NRA Board has been appraised of the grim situation facing them over the next few years.

An important matter that Noel Dempsey has deliberately neglected to flag anyone up on is that the Board of the NRA will presently be 'asked' to halve the number of their design offices.

Noel Dempsey will presently land that onto the Board of the NRA to avoid the inevitable flak he would have personally taken had he mentioned it in his post budget briefing . Yet Noel Dempsey knew all of this as far back as April .

The NRA have about 10 of these design offices and 5 are to go according to Noel Dempseys grand plan and by the end of 2009 is the suggested timescale .

Chris_533976

I'd love to know who your source is in all this. You've a mole in the Department of Finance as I understand it? Everyone who works there is sworn to secrecy - that is why it is so difficult for the media to get information out of the department because no one will talk. At the very least I'd like to know what level your source is at in the department.

AFAIK the tenders for Gort - Crusheen were opened in April, with the tenders for Oranmore - Gort originally supposed to be deadlined in September. Now the latter has definately been delayed, until 2010 as far as I've heard. I have also heard rumours that a contracter HAS BEEN APPOINTED for Gort - Crusheen, but no more news than that.

If a contract has been SIGNED for Gort - Crusheen, then it goes ahead. If not, it seems anyway to be the next scheme ready for the off. Whether its to appease the west I'm not sure, but it seems that this will preclude Newlands Cross.

Edit: 90% confirmed. Apparently trucks are due onsite in EARLY NOVEMBER 2008 to start work on Gort - Crusheen. Contracts were signed last weekend I think. And this source mentions the delay in Gort - Oranmore so it does take budget cuts into account.

Sponge Bob

The issue with Newlands is partially funding but more so that the country's main Gas and Electricity and Telecoms networks all go straight through it and that rerouting them is a lot more complex than had been anticipated .

This is the preliminary work underway now and supposedly finished late this year . It will overrun well into next year meaning the way is not clear to build that road at present.

Furthermore it is always Politically convenient to bring a project forward when put under pressure and Newlands is held in reserve as that project by the Minister of Transport who can pretend to listen if he comes under pressure . He is , however, under no pressure and therefore Noel Dempsey is the only minister golfing at present .

The other proposed major roads are all green field projects with no such issues , save that there is no money

As for the media , they are evidently not asking the right questions and the Dept of Finance does not give them junkets and jollies unlike road building contractors . The only senior journalist who seems to have cultivated sources in the department of finance is Sam Smyth from what I can see.

Once books of estimates are published they do answer questions but only if you ask the right ones

Chris_533976

Newlands is being preliminaried. The current works there are rerouting the Gas mains to provide space for rerouting the mainline so the bridge can be built. Also, I believe those in charge will realise that Newlands has to be the absolute inexcusable priority and must be done as soon as the Red Cow works are complete. I do agree that maybe the project isnt cancelled at all, and that they're feigning a delay to say "Oh look despite the bad conditions MONEY HAS BEEN FOUND". And I do think that could be the case with other schemes too.

BluntGuy

Well I already posted on SABRE about this...

I don't see how a 7% deficit (very light compared to other departments) converts to almost ALL road schemes being delayed.

Sponge Bob

BluntGuy wrote: »

I don't see how a 7% deficit (very light compared to other departments) converts to almost ALL road schemes being delayed.

Well it is simple really .

ALL schemes under construction between now and 2010 ( MIU projects and the Waterford Bypass ) must be paid for at various stages during 2009 and 2010 becuase they will finish then.

This expenditure is unavoidable and will be incurred . We can therefore predict that the NRA will get about €1.5b in 2009 and in 2010 and has been allocated that for 2009 .

The acid test is to see what projects will be under construction and to be paid for in 2011 or thereafter. You do this by following the money !

If Chris is right and the Gort Crusheen contract has finally been signed ( and thank phuck for that ) then the only nationally significant road project under construction and to be paid for in 2011 will be Gort- Crusheen because the MIUs and Waterford Bypass will be finished in 2010 Latest!

Were one to bypass New Ross and to pay for it in 2011 you would have to get diggers onsite in 2009 at the latest. Yet that tender has not even issued and nor have any others that have not been explicitly deferred since, eg Athenry - Gort tender issued in 2007 .

This expenditure on Gort-Crusheen Will be in the order of €130m -€170m which is an awful lot less than the €1.5bn odd the NRA has been getting annually in recent times for new road build projects.

The land take for a given project ( variously between 15% and 35% of the total cost ) is incurred in or before the year in which the contract is signed. Has anyone heard of land takes going through on a large scale ...anywhere ????

If everything is offically delayed till 2010 and if there is no land take and contracts signed for any road project in 2009 this means nothing can start in 2010 .

Follow the money people and do ask the right questions

Chris_533976

The main reason for there being little CPOing going on is because a lot of stuff is ready to go. Lets look at your list ->

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2009

1. Gort-Crusheen - Has been CPOed obviously
2. Newlands Cross - Has been CPOed

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2010

1. Arklow - Rathnew - Has been CPOed
2. Longford Bypass - No idea offhand

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2011

1. Galway Bypass - ABP Decision on CPO pending. Will be CPOed then.

National Road Projects to Go Ahead in 2012

1. N20 Croom - Mallow - Route Selection underway, no CPO yet.
2. N18 Athenry - GORT - Has been CPOed

I'm not 110% sure of them all but thats what I know offhand. I do also know the Cork South Ring Interchanges scheme has been CPOed and is ready to go (whenever). Lots of stuff is NEARING the CPO stage.

If its big CPOs you're looking for then look no further than the Galway Bypass and the New Ross bypass which will have their CPO decisions made by ABP later on this year probably. When they'll go to construction I dont know (no idea on the Galway bypass, tho its fairly high on the list, New Ross bypass apparently will be started soon after the Waterford bypass is done, and likely the same crew will do it).

Also waiting in the wings after its Oral hearing is the M17. N25 Carrigtwohill - Midleton is also getting very close to CPO (despite being delayed).

So yeah, its a dry CPO spell at the moment simply because a lot of stuff is CPOed and ready to go, and theres a big pile ready to be CPOed soon. There just doenst happen to be anything in the middle at the mo.

Sponge Bob

Chris_533976 wrote: »

I'm not 110% sure of them all but thats what I know offhand. I do also know the Cork South Ring Interchanges scheme has been CPOed and is ready to go (whenever). Lots of stuff is NEARING the CPO stage

Ehhh you miss the point :rolleyes:

CPO is a document that sets a price that could be paid if accepted. It freezes the intended price. The intention is not to go higher. Irish land prices are insane anyway .

It is an offer. If accepted then it will be paid......eventually.

The CPO purchaser ( a local authority) does not actually have to hand the money over at that time. They generally do but they do not have to.

They can scratch their holes checking title and folios etc.

After the CPO is issued it may be challenged , essentially with a counter valuation saying it is worth more .

The CPO challenge mechanism has worked quite well for the owner the rising market we had since about 1983.

Normally they got more money by issuing a challenge . Sometimes a ridiculous amount more.

In a market where prices are falling it may not. That does not mean that chancers will not try. To save taxpayers money they should be allowed to try.

Then you wait, other chancers may well appear , then others , then lots , then you strike

Irish and Proud

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Well it is simple really .

If everything is offically delayed till 2010 and if there is no land take and contracts signed for any road project in 2009 this means nothing can start in 2010 .

The land for the N11 Arklow to Rathnew scheme was bought a couple of years ago. AFAIK, the tender process is underway too, but the contract signing has been delayed. In conclusion, I guess that the only obstacle to the project concerned is money! However, as the scheme has been already approved, it will lapse if the government doesn't get the finger out soon.

Regards!

Cian R

Alot of towns have been forgotten about by the NRA: Stranorlar/Ballybofey, Lifford, Carrick on Shannon, Tuam, Claregalway, Gort, Roscommon town, Ballaghaderreen, Birr, Blessington, Mountmellick, Athy, Castlecomer, Listowel, Castleisland, Farranfore, Tralee, Tipperary, Mallow, Adare, Charleville, Abbeyfeale, Newcastle West, Templemore, Enniscorthy, New Ross, Carrick on Suir, Macroom, Carrigaline, Lismore and Tramore

If I have forgotten any just say so.

lookinggoodson

Does anyone know if the N26 stage 2 (Ballina to the N5) will ever get the go ahead or is it now just a total pipe dream. The current road is extreamly bad for the volume of traffic.

How will the west ever develope when projects there are the first to get the chop.

serfboard

Just to let people know, I've started a new thread over on the infrastructure forum.

galwayrush

Chris_533976 wrote: »

M17 is still likely.

Claregalway takes 24k per day. Now lets assume that 20k (say) of it takes the M17 when built. I know it wont quite be that high, but adding the people that will use it instead of the current N17 and the extra traffic the motorway will generate, 20k is a reasonable figure.

.

Claregalway takes 30,000 plus per day. The proposed M17 will not make a significant difference to this, especially if it's tolled as the vast majority of the traffic is for Galway City, and most of the industrial estates are located close to the existing N17. The M17 will be 11 miles away.:eek: Galway needs a dual carriageway to replace the N17 from Laughgeorge way more than a motorway from Tuam to Athenry. The M17 should be moved closer to Galway so that it can service where it's needed most and still be part of the Atlantic corridor.

Sponge Bob

So I was right .

Gort Crusheen started . no Newlands Cross because nobody made a fuss did they ??

Castleisland added back on after being cancelled , all €30m of it . Tom McEllistrims seat in North Kerry was threatened again I'll wager and FF want Healy Raes seat back in South Kerry .

Geogregor

Sponge Bob wrote: »

So I was right .

Gort Crusheen started . no Newlands Cross because nobody made a fuss did they ??

Castleisland added back on after being cancelled , all €30m of it . Tom McEllistrims seat in North Kerry was threatened again I'll wager and FF want Healy Raes seat back in South Kerry .

What is this Newland Cross? I'm following infrastructure projects in Ireland but somehow I never heard about this one.

fricatus

Geogregor wrote: »

What is this Newland Cross? I'm following infrastructure projects in Ireland but somehow I never heard about this one.

Czesc Geogregor, i witam! (don't ask me to speak any more Polish though...)

If you ever travelled at rush hour from Dublin out the N7 towards Cork/Limerick/Waterford, you'd be well aware of Newlands Cross!

It's the crossroads of the N7 and R113 (Tallaght-Clondalkin road). It's a multi-lane junction controlled by traffic lights, and it tends to be a real bottleneck.

There's a plan in place to put a flyover or underpass in place so that traffic going straight on along the N7 doesn't have to queue or mix in with left/right turning traffic.

Geogregor

fricatus wrote: »

Czesc Geogregor, i witam! (don't ask me to speak any more Polish though...)

If you ever travelled at rush hour from Dublin out the N7 towards Cork/Limerick/Waterford, you'd be well aware of Newlands Cross!

It's the crossroads of the N7 and R113 (Tallaght-Clondalkin road). It's a multi-lane junction controlled by traffic lights, and it tends to be a real bottleneck.

There's a plan in place to put a flyover or underpass in place so that traffic going straight on along the N7 doesn't have to queue or mix in with left/right turning traffic.

Ok, thanks.
Good polish by the way

In general N7 might be possible problem in few years. It is main gateway from Dublin and NI towards south and south west of Ireland. When M7, M8 and M9 are finished volume of traffic might grow substantially
It should be three lane full profile motorway all the way to M7/M9 split or even to M7/M8 split if volume of traffic justify.
But let NRA remove traffic lights first from this important route.

ardmacha

But let NRA remove traffic lights first from this important route.

You will have a situation where it will be possible to drive from North of Belfast to Cork, with just one set of traffic lights in the middle!

However traffic will not grow much in the next year or two, and the planning is done for this junction so that it can be built when money becomes available.

Carawaystick

There was supposed to be a freeflowing route between Dublin and Cork in 2006. then in 2010, now you think ah sher whenever.

Sponge Bob

Carawaystick wrote: »

There was supposed to be a freeflowing route between Dublin and Cork in 2006. then in 2010, now you think ah sher whenever.

2012 earliest . Newlands Cross is a mess.

Maybe they are thinking of re-re-redesigning it with 4 lanes each way ....which means 2014 earliest .

Pisser Dignam

Sponge Bob wrote: »

2012 earliest . Newlands Cross is a mess.

Maybe they are thinking of re-re-redesigning it with 4 lanes each way ....which means 2014 earliest .

I admire your optimism.

holton

It's an absolute disgrace that they're not going ahead with the Newlands Cross upgrade. This has been on the cards since the early 90's and we're still no further on. Yes, I know how bad the Govn. finances are, but it's important projects like this that we should be investing in now.

Amtmann

But as SpongeBob said, who made a fuss about it? No one. Of course we shouldn't have to make a fuss to get key infrastructural projects delivered, but in this country, we do. And we didn't.

More to the point, our pathetic press didn't comment until after the NRA's announcement was made the other day. No, wait; they didn't comment at all actually. They basically just reprinted the NRA press release, and didn't subject it to any criticism whatsoever. "What does CPO really mean for a scheme?" "Why was Newland's Cross ommitted?" "Why is the only road project starting this year a 5.5km stretch in Kerry?" "Should that really be the priority?" "How much cheaper are contractors willing to do work in 2009 than in 2006?" But no...our press are simply awful, and it doesn't occur to them to ask these basic questions.

BluntGuy

Tbh, I don't expect much from the press with regard to road coverage.

My latest issue was with a local Tipp paper actually. I was disgusted to see the Tipperary Star refer to the Topaz/McDonalds Cashel development as an MSA...

Amtmann

BluntGuy wrote: »

I was disgusted to see the Tipperary Star refer to the Topaz/McDonalds Cashel development as an MSA...

What was the gist of the article? Is it definitely a McDonalds? Also, did they indicate when it would open? (You can reply on one of the MSA or M8 threads if you like so we don't derail this thread.)

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0129/1232923372729.html

Bypass in Kerry to be single new road project
TIM O'BRIEN

A PROPOSED bypass of Castleisland, Co Kerry, is to become the only new national road scheme to go to construction this year under a reduced €1.44 billion annual budget for the National Roads Authority (NRA).

Announcing the allocation yesterday, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the authority’s emphasis for 2009 would be on continuing 17 major projects, among them the inter-urban motorways between Dublin and the cities of Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford.

He said the 17 projects have a combined length of just under 500km, and were being constructed at a cost of €5 billion, funded on a multi-annual basis.

At €1.44 billion for 2009, the roads authority allocation is about €240 million less than that of 2008.

Mr Dempsey confirmed the proposed Leinster outer orbital motorway and the Eastern Bypass of Dublin would not now be considered by the Government until 2011 at the earliest.

He also said a number of schemes which the NRA initially hoped to progress to construction this year were being rescheduled.

These include:

* the N5 bypass of Longford;
* the N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton road in Co Cork;
* the N18 Gort to Oranmore in Co Galway;
* the reconstruction of Newlands Cross on the N7 in south Dublin;
* the upgrade of the N11 south of Ashford, Co Wicklow.

However, the Minister said the level of investment in the current economic climate represented the State’s determination to “maintain investment in our key transport networks” and ensure the major inter-urban routes were completed by 2010.

Of the ongoing work, eight schemes on the major routes are due to open to traffic this year.

They are the N4 Leixlip to M50 junction; the N6 Athlone to Ballinasloe; the N7 Nenagh to Limerick; the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown; the N9 Waterford to Knocktopher; the N9 Kilcullen to Carlow; the N51 Navan inner relief road; and the N25 Waterford City bypass.

While Mr Dempsey welcomed continuing work on the N18 between Crusheen, Co Clare, and Gort, Co Galway, he said the Gort to Oranmore section had been amalgamated with a Galway to Tuam PPP (public-private partnership) project, which would not begin this year. He said reduced tender prices of between 15 and 20 per cent and earlier completions in recent years had resulted in the money being found to fund the start of the Castleisland bypass this year.

Credit for the scheduling of the bypass was also claimed by Kerry Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae, who said he had lobbied the Tánaiste and Mr Dempsey on the subject.

NRA chief executive Fred Barry said a further package of public-private partnership roads amounting to about €1 billion was being put together to advance a number of schemes, including the Tuam to Gort section, and the Gorey bypass to New Ross link in Co Wexford.

None of the new PPP roads would be charging tolls.

However, Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said the reduced budget was “lunacy” as construction cost was “at its cheapest for years”.

He said the Government should be “ramping up labour-intensive road-building projects” as an incentive to the economy.

“Noel Dempsey should be doubling the National Roads Programme for 2009. Yet the Minister has confirmed that this year’s roads budget has been slashed by €240 million. This is utter folly.”

Davy

Victor wrote: »

None of the new PPP roads would be charging tolls.

Always nice

BluntGuy

Just thought I'd isolate this quote...

Credit for the scheduling of the bypass was also claimed by Kerry Independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae, who said he had lobbied the Tánaiste and Mr Dempsey on the subject.

:rolleyes:

Heraldoffreeent

BluntGuy wrote: »

Just thought I'd isolate this quote...



:rolleyes:

An' I said to him, I said to the minishther "yoo nead too build de buypass o' casheloiland wit dat money which ye saved on de'udder projekts" !!

murphaph

Heraldoffreeent wrote: »

An' I said to him, I said to the minishther "yoo nead too build de buypass o' casheloiland wit dat money which ye saved on de'udder projekts" !!

Lol, sad but that's enough to fool some of the people.

BluntGuy

Heraldoffreeent wrote: »

An' I said to him, I said to the minishther "yoo nead too build de buypass o' casheloiland wit dat money which ye saved on de'udder projekts" !!

Lol... that sounds exactly like him.

Got to give credit to that man though, he isn't stupid, he knows how to appeal to the ignorant masses.

Chris_533976

However, Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said the reduced budget was “lunacy” as construction cost was “at its cheapest for years”.

He said the Government should be “ramping up labour-intensive road-building projects” as an incentive to the economy.

“Noel Dempsey should be doubling the National Roads Programme for 2009. Yet the Minister has confirmed that this year’s roads budget has been slashed by €240 million. This is utter folly.”

Thats what just about every other country is doing. Massive infrastructure investments. Granted, we've been doing catchup for a bit now and a huge amount is in construction, but the minute the economy falters, instead of doing what everyone else is doing, we're cutting back.

Zoney

We probably have less room for manoeuvre. Despite the seemingly still intact credit rating, surely we can't get away with using as much non-existent money as other larger countries? Plus we pay more for the privilige of doing so?

Sponge Bob

Let me repeat myself on this subject

"There Is NO Money"