Go-Ahead for New Ross Bypass

Lennoxschips

hey are VITAL to the SW of Irelands economy and that is why the Euroroute is important infrastructure and needs to be built to a good standard.

You're putting words in my mouth. I'm not saying it isn't a vital route, just that the traffic numbers aren't up to a dualler. The road should be upgraded to high standard single carriageway, which much of the road between New Ross and Rosslare has been already. Like I said, one of these leaves Puttgarden in Germany every forty minutes and the single carriageway expressway is grand.



I've driven that road to Puttgarden a few times myself, no problems. And I have been the last off a ferry at the N25 a couple of times, no problems there either. We're inventing reasons to build oversized roads we don't need, when we need to prioritise other areas (like health and public transport, and where roads are concerned, Newlands Cross)

Road-Hog

Furet wrote: »

More's the pity. I bet several posters here know a lot more about roads than anyone in the NRA.

I take it furet that you are being sarcastic......leave everything to the 'key-board /forum experts', the modern day equivalent of the 'know-it-all (usually with tash)' dublin taxi driver.....I wonder has 'blunt guy' ever been approached by the NRA ?

mysterious

corktina wrote: »

The point you are missing is that the3 road is not primarily there for New Ross's sake.It is there as essential infrastructure to carry traffic from Cork Kerry and Waterford to the port at Rosslaire. It doesnt matter what the population of New Ross is

The point your missiing is I get the point, and you miss the bigger picture,about prioristizing. Rosslare is a small port, and not all traffic from New Ross is coming from the New Ross directiion towards Rosslare. I'm well aware of what traffic is using Rosslare port, and well aware of where most of the Traffic is heading when leaving Rosslare port. Not that much H.G.Vs would be travelling from Kerry and Cork to Rosslare I'm afraid. That arguement is flawed. I'd would say bar a few hundred travellers a day would come from the southwest and use Rosslare by crossing over the water, most would use plane or go via Cork port or Even Dublin Port.

Cork has it's own lift on lift off, roll on roll off traffic to connect with the continent. Your point is overly exaggerated. Not many Kerry commuter's are going to opt to use Rosslare over Cork also for instance as I said above.

Traffic out of Rosslare is at peak 7,000 a day, and that's including local traffic that uses the N25 also. in winter traffic plummets to 5,000 a day. These figures are not huge.
Traffic between New Ross and Wexford is even lower, as the N30 branches off towards the N11.

Not all this "New Ross through" traffic would even be coming from from this point to Rosslare, given that peak summer flows barely reach 7,000 a day.


I made a specific point, and is only one of many. Schemes like the M20 has got to go ahead first and foremost, before they even dream of getting this over bloated bypass of New Ross on the map.

The New Ross bypass is lovely even, but it going to wait until, bigger towns and bigger roads are bypassed first. Then it will all be lovely. Right now in the current economic climate, Luxury's like the New Ross Bypass can wait.

Amtmann

Road-Hog wrote: »

I take it furet that you are being sarcastic......leave everything to the 'key-board /forum experts', the modern day equivalent of the 'know-it-all (usually with tash)' dublin taxi driver.....I wonder has 'blunt guy' ever been approached by the NRA ?

Are you seriously saying the NRA know how to do roads properly? Three words for you: motorway service areas.

Drum roll please...

The NRA board is, in theory, the choice of the Irish people. In reality, its composition would make Jo Stalin blush. It is stuffed with political appointees.

Last week I decided to find out a bit about the NRA directors. Not an easy task.

First, I turned to the NRA annual report. And there they were. Pictures of them all.

And their names too.

And that was it.

Not a syllable of information on their education, jobs, expertise or their pedigrees.

Not a whisper about their pay, which turned out to be €9,000 a year.

So I rang the NRA to ask about the board. The first reaction was stunning. "We have no public record of their backgrounds." A press officer told me that it was a matter for the Department of Transport. For all the NRA knew or cared, its own directors could have escaped from Mountjoy Jail last week.

Happily, a helpful NRA employee told me a bit about a few of them -- from memory.

Chairman Peter Malone ticks a few appropriate boxes. He is a well-known hotelier -- not an engineer -- and was the boss of Jurys; but Peter is also a favourite of politicians. Apart from being parachuted into the NRA chair by ministerial patronage, he has served as chairman of semi-state Bord na Mona, was a member of the review body on higher public sector remuneration and chairs property company, CBRE Gunne.

What is interesting about CBRE Gunne is that they gave Fianna Fail generous donations in 2004 and 2005. The NRA annual report tells you none of this.

Nor does it tell you anything about Peter's fellow-director, Connie Ni Fhatharta. An interesting woman, Connie. Of most interest is that she is a Fianna Fail councillor in Galway and a defeated Seanad candidate. Nothing wrong with that. Just that we ought to know.

Nor does it tell you anything about Jenny Kent. By all accounts, Mrs Kent is an able woman. She comes from a topical place; currently she is president of the Laois Chamber of Commerce.

"Ahem," I hear you mutter. "Laois, eh? A protegee of Brian Cowen?"

Not so. Jenny is her own woman. But a few inquiries revealed that Jenny's husband is an Irish Farmers Association bigwig , a disciple of Tom Parlon -- the former Progressive Democrat minister from the same Laois constituency. The PDs too are entitled to their share of the spoils.

Nor does the annual report breathe a word about director Raymond Potterton. A little digging reveals that Potterton was a business partner of Loman Dempsey, brother of none other than cabinet minister Noel Dempsey.

You want to know more?

Take a look at board member David Holden. A former Bank of Ireland spinner, Mr Holden is well qualified to advise the NRA about how to impose hidden charges on the motorist. But there is more than hidden charges to Mr Holden. He was a great friend and supporter of the late Fianna Fail minister Seamus Brennan, who appointed him to the board. David even delivered a eulogy at Seamus's funeral.

Plenty of political pedigree there. Not to mention NRA director and Thurles councillor Frances Boyle, whose father was a Fianna Failer and herself was regarded as a Progressive Democrat/government sympathiser -- although elected as an independent. Frances runs a shop in Thurles.

Even NRA director Eimear McAuliffe, a nurse by profession, loyally flew the Fianna Fail flag as a candidate at the last local elections.

These are the people presiding over the farce that is the M50 this weekend. Political appointees are propping up a monstrous monopoly. A Fianna Fail nurse, a Fianna Fail county councillor, an auctioneer, a public relations spiv, a farmer and a shopkeeper all find themselves running Ireland's roads. They have one thing in common: political connections.

As I ended my board search I hit a major disappointment. Up popped a real live practitioner, a man who actually knows a bit about roads. How did he get on the board?

Wexford County Manager Eddie Breen, one of the finest public servants it has been my pleasure to encounter, is a director. How a man of such independence and expertise slipped through the political Stalinist test, it is difficult to fathom. But Eddie made it.

There should be an inquiry.

The NRA needs more directors like Eddie. The board is patently ill-equipped to deal with the current fiasco at the toll bridge.

The State monopoly has imposed a system of tags that would test Job's patience, a choice of charges that would challenge Einstein's intelligence, a penal fees structure that makes NTR look like Santa Claus, a work rate that would make Dublin Airport Authority seem dynamic. (It will take eight weeks to dismantle the barriers. Has the NRA never heard of a bulldozer?) And worst of all, the NRA has cooked up a punitive system of enforcement that would embarrass the politburo in old Albania.

Who will be the first to go to jail for failing to pay the €3 fee?

- Shane Ross

http://www.independent.ie/business/m50-directors-unmasked-1466341.html



You seem very eagre to defend the NRA...for an anonymous keyboard type, that is.

BluntGuy

Road-Hog wrote: »

I take it furet that you are being sarcastic......leave everything to the 'key-board /forum experts', the modern day equivalent of the 'know-it-all (usually with tash)' dublin taxi driver.....I wonder has 'blunt guy' ever been approached by the NRA ?

I take it Road-Hog that you're being sarcastic...

I'm simply a road enthusiast, I know a lot about roads but I never once claimed to be able to run a Road Authority. However, I would presume the people that work for the NRA are qualified to undertake the task.

Unfortunately, quite simply put, they are making incorrect decisions left, right and centre that are obvious for everybody to see. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't take much intelligence to figure out that a massive over-sized bypass is not needed for a town of 7000 people, and even if it is deemed to be necessary, there are other more urgent projects that need to be dealt with first.

And then we had the whole "will we, won't we" with the MSAs. Even some of the MSA location choices reflect poor-decision making (the northern M9 one, the M6 MSA tacked onto a junction, the M8 Cashel MSA). We also had the stupidity regarding the whole motorway redesignation fiasco where roads opened with green signage that had to be ripped down within months. Then the god-awful 2+1 roads. The list goes on...

And so what if I'm an anonymous poster on an internet forum. Does that mean what I'm saying is wrong? If the NRA is making bad decisions I'm entitled to say it. I'm entitled to e-mail them and ask why they're making bad decisions. I shouldn't have to post my CV and get hired by the authority to stop them making these decisions and neither should I have to organise a protest or an online campaign...

Reason?

Because they should be doing it correctly in the first place...

Anyway, I will presume your silly: arrogant, 'know-it-all' forum posters comment wasn't directed at me.

Chris_533976

Add to the fact that they cant really join up motorways without ****ing it up

BluntGuy

Chris_533976 wrote: »

Add to the fact that they cant really join up motorways without ****ing it up

Mention junction to the NRA and only one word will come to mind:

Roundabout...

Also, interesting article. However it comes as no great surprise that the NRA board is mostly made up of FF arse-lickers rather than people who actually know anything about roads (although I'm sure the Indo secretly applauds it.)

I think I'll e-mail the NRA on this. I'm simply dying to know what qualifications/qualities these wonderful people have that make them suitable for the job.