[Article] M3 could open by end of the year; protests continue

Amtmann

WORK ON the M3 motorway in Co Meath is “tracking well ahead of schedule” and is on course to be completed ahead of its July 2010 deadline, the National Roads Authority said yesterday.

Speaking after disturbances by protesters in the Dunshaughlin area of the motorway, roads authority spokesman Seán O’Neill said it was time for protesters to accept that the road was nearly finished and to end their protest.

Pressed on a completion date for the M3, which is routed just a few kilometres away from the Hill of Tara, the authority said it was “hopeful”it would be finished by the end of 2009. Mr O’Neill said the authority “can’t guarantee” early completion as this was a matter for the contractor, the Eurolink consortium, but he said it was running in advance of the timetable. According to Eurolink, more than 1.24 million tonnes of “blacktop” surface was put on the road last summer, and all structures, including bridges, are well advanced. Mr O’Neill said protests of the kind that occurred at Dunshaughlin, when about 50 people invaded the site, should cease. The road was “so far progressed, it is ridiculous”.

Laura Grealish of Tarawatch, which campaigns against the M3 route, said she did not believe the Dunshaughlin protesters were part of her group. However, the protests should continue as there was a complaint about the M3 with the EU and Unesco was considering designating Tara a world heritage site.

Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch accused the authority of “spin” by claiming the M3 was ahead of schedule. The group was taking legal advice and he said the Government may have to reroute the M3 to ensure Unesco recognition.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0305/1224242302977.html

marmurr1916

If the protestors fly to or from Dublin anytime soon, they'll realise pretty quickly that the M3, for good or ill, is a done deal.

The road is substantially finished: it basically just needs a few finishing touches and a bit of tidying up here and there.

My guesstimate is that it'll be open by the end of October.

There's no chance of it being re-routed now, regardless of any possible Unesco requirements for having the Hill of Tara inscribed on the register of World Heritage Sites.

Chris_533976

TBH I wish the M3 was delayed - its keeping the protesters from the route of the Galway Outer Bypass at the moment.

mysterious

Chris_533976 wrote: »

TBH I wish the M3 was delayed - its keeping the protesters from the route of the Galway Outer Bypass at the moment.

Lol, now that you've said it, they are probably on their way to galway:D

In their recycable clothes and green hats.

Tech3

If the route was more near the town of trim it would have avoided the mess that is now seen. It would have only added 4 or 5 km at most onto the journey.

I dont blame people protesting about it as it is a symbol of the country. Tara is unique and its sad to see acts of destruction like this.

KevR

Can someone please explain to me what the protests are about?

According to that article, the M3 is located a few kilometers from the Hill of Tara. It's not like it is located on the actual Hill. I really don't see the problem.

Also, I heard that the M3 is further from the Hill of Tara than the current N3. Is this true?

Irish and Proud

Chris_533976 wrote: »

TBH I wish the M3 was delayed - its keeping the protesters from the route of the Galway Outer Bypass at the moment.

A Meath man to the rescue...

These international protesters tend to be so ignorant, so let's be innovative and put up a front... :cool:

Let's propose putting a motorway through Newgrange (a proxy one that is - what would they know anyway) and when the bulldozers arrive, the M20, M6 etc should be safe!!!

Of course, I wouldn't let such people near the actual Newgrange - they're simply not worthy of our heritage!!! :mad:

Regards!

munchkin_utd

tech2 wrote: »

If the route was more near the town of trim it would have avoided the mess that is now seen. It would have only added 4 or 5 km at most onto the journey.

I dont blame people protesting about it as it is a symbol of the country. Tara is unique and its sad to see acts of destruction like this.

The reason the road did not go on the Trim side of Tara was precisely to PROTECT Tara.
The Environmental survey showed that the view from Tara would be obliterated by a new major road going near Trim on the Great Plain (if i remember rightly what the name is given to that part of Meath).
Where the road is now in the Tara area is following the path pretty much of of the old road, only is FURTHER away than the old road.

I could never figure out what these protestors did for an occupation?
Were they just drawing the dole and then costing the taxpayer more money by delaying this major project?

At the very least there should be a law that people causing a nuisance and costing the taxpayer millions upon millions in unnecessarily holding up of government works should be docked the dole.
How are these people proactively looking for gainful employment as they are handcuffed to a branch 40 foot up a tree?

Typewriter

Most of these people are rich middle class kids on a gap year. :P

spacetweek

Can't believe the protest is still continuing. They'll hold on until the last.

Visited the top of the hill last year and was confused. You cannot actually see very much of the construction site at all from there. The main view at Tara is to the south. If you look north, you can just about see a motorway bridge peeping over a hill in the distance - and that's it. There's no other evidence of the road at all. It's a complete overreaction.

Yes, a westerly routing could have avoided us all this hoo-hah, but the damage to Meath's economy done by these protesters dragging it through the courts is inexcusable. Plus, Salafia keeps making stuff up and sounds really paranoid: No, it isn't spin for the NRA to say the road is opening this year, they're just looking up their schedule. No, Meath does not already have 3 motorways, it has zero, etc.

Tech3

munchkin_utd wrote: »

The reason the road did not go on the Trim side of Tara was precisely to PROTECT Tara.
The Environmental survey showed that the view from Tara would be obliterated by a new major road going near Trim on the Great Plain (if i remember rightly what the name is given to that part of Meath).
Where the road is now in the Tara area is following the path pretty much of of the old road, only is FURTHER away than the old road.

I could never figure out what these protestors did for an occupation?
Were they just drawing the dole and then costing the taxpayer more money by delaying this major project?

At the very least there should be a law that people causing a nuisance and costing the taxpayer millions upon millions in unnecessarily holding up of government works should be docked the dole.
How are these people proactively looking for gainful employment as they are handcuffed to a branch 40 foot up a tree?

This reply really sums up society today. Did you take into consideration the hill of skryne as the motorway is going to be right beside it? Its not just the hill of tara that is being ruined the whole area has historic significance.

I dont condem the protestors as they see this area is being ruined by bad planning. Every town in this country is already ruined by the property bubble now its time for our heritage to be ruined by infrastructure. Judging by the traffic counts of 16 and 17k a day is the motorway even necessary? The N17 has double that but I guess its outside Dublin. :rolleyes:

ardmacha

Most of these protesters did not make a submission to the public enquiry before this route was decided but arrived on the scene much later.

paulm17781

ardmacha wrote: »

Most of these protesters did not make a submission to the public enquiry before this route was decided but arrived on the scene much later.

That's what really annoys me about this. They don't bother with the process then come in protesting after they've had their chance. FWIW, I know a few of them and don't approve at all.

spacetweek

tech2 wrote: »

This reply really sums up society today. Did you take into consideration the hill of skryne as the motorway is going to be right beside it? Its not just the hill of tara that is being ruined the whole area has historic significance.

I dont condem the protestors as they see this area is being ruined by bad planning. Every town in this country is already ruined by the property bubble now its time for our heritage to be ruined by infrastructure. Judging by the traffic counts of 16 and 17k a day is the motorway even necessary? The N17 has double that but I guess its outside Dublin. :rolleyes:

I'm not convinced that the hill of tara is being impacted by this at all.
The case for the motorway from a traffic and economic perspective has been the very clearly made many times. Meath currently has zero motorways (despite what Vincent Salafia says) which is a travesty considering how near it is to a major city and the enormous growth it's seen over the last two decades.

Your comment about the N17 doesn't make sense; it is getting a motorway.

Tech3

spacetweek wrote: »

I'm not convinced that the hill of tara is being impacted by this at all.
The case for the motorway from a traffic and economic perspective has been the very clearly made many times. Meath currently has zero motorways (despite what Vincent Salafia says) which is a travesty considering how near it is to a major city and the enormous growth it's seen over the last two decades.

Your comment about the N17 doesn't make sense; it is getting a motorway.

I am aware of the fact part of the N17 is going to get a motorway but with the higher traffic counts it should have been more priority than the M3 at the time. It justifies the difference between the east and west. Im more convinced the hill of skryne is being affected as the motorway is a lot closer to it than the old N3 also taking into account a motorways width is about 3 or 4 times the size of a single carriageway road.

L1011

spacetweek wrote: »

I'm not convinced that the hill of tara is being impacted by this at all.
The case for the motorway from a traffic and economic perspective has been the very clearly made many times. Meath currently has zero motorways (despite what Vincent Salafia says) which is a travesty considering how near it is to a major city and the enormous growth it's seen over the last two decades.

Your comment about the N17 doesn't make sense; it is getting a motorway.

Much as I disagree with Salafia; the M1 and M4 do run through Meath. They don't, however, serve the bits of it with any significant population and both basically just glance off the county on their way past...

D'Peoples Voice

tech2 wrote: »

The N17 has double that but I guess its outside Dublin. :rolleyes:

Have you even looked at the map before making such a comment - its going from Clonee Co Meath to Kells County Meath, it will remain the N3 in Dublin from the North Circular Road to the Clonee, and it will remain the N3 from the Cavan/Meath border to Ballyshannon in County Donegal (albeit after crossing into the UK for a while)
So what on earth has this to do with Dublin - please do tell - educate us all.

oh and let me guess you're one of these people that thinks that Dublin has more motorway than Kildare!

fricatus

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

Have you even looked at the map before making such a comment - its going from Clonee Co Meath to Kells County Meath, it will remain the N3 in Dublin from the North Circular Road to the Clonee, and it will remain the N3 from the Cavan/Meath border to Ballyshannon in County Donegal (albeit after crossing into the UK for a while)
So what on earth has this to do with Dublin - please do tell - educate us all.

oh and let me guess you're one of these people that thinks that Dublin has more motorway than Kildare!

While I don't agree with what tech2 has been saying above, you're being a little pedantic, not to mention disingenuous on this point here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be trying to deny the common assertion that "Dublin has loads of motorways", which tends to precede criticisms of the M3.

You may be technically correct, in that none of the M3 will be in Dublin, and Kildare has more miles of motorway, but as far as I can gather, every single inch of motorway in this state is part of a route leading to or from Dublin, and a quick glance at any map of motorways in this country confirms that our motorway network has one single purpose: to serve Dublin.

Until the M20 and M17 are started, this will continue to be the case.

Tech3

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

Have you even looked at the map before making such a comment - its going from Clonee Co Meath to Kells County Meath, it will remain the N3 in Dublin from the North Circular Road to the Clonee, and it will remain the N3 from the Cavan/Meath border to Ballyshannon in County Donegal (albeit after crossing into the UK for a while)
So what on earth has this to do with Dublin - please do tell - educate us all.

oh and let me guess you're one of these people that thinks that Dublin has more motorway than Kildare!

Yes I have looked at the map, have you looked at it?

The motorway is on the route to Dublin. Many major routes coming out of the capital are either being built motorway or being prioritised over others. Now before you start criticizing me even further Im not arguing that the other motorways shouldnt be built(inter urbans) but my comment is referrring to traffic counts on the N3. Have you looked at the traffic counts two examples:

N17: 24,105
N3: 16,592

Thats another 50% on top of the current N3 traffic. I didnt mention anything in my post regarding how many motorways Dublin has. Im just debating why the N3 was prioritised over the N17 at the time, no more.

Stroke Politics

As a blow-in to Co Meath, the first thing that struck me was the God-awful transportation through the county, and the lack of any proper tourist facilities on Tara Hill. Much as I like it up on the Hill, if it wasn't for Maguires, there would be nothing for the tourists other than standing on the field itself.

How does a county that had an in-situ taoiseach, a pretty competitive 5-seater constituency, and a huge commuter population not have bypassses, and rail after all of this time? How come a world heritage site was left on a laneway? The need for a proper road with bypasses didn't happen today or yesterday, and much as I was oppossed to to the original route, we're stuck with it now.

Meath must have the most apathetic electorate in Ireland, for this to take so long, and to be so protracted. How many people will pay €40 per week to go to Dublin on the Sacred Motorway?

Route selection had very little to do with heritage, and a lot to do with ownership of property. Follow the money.....

D'Peoples Voice

tech2 wrote: »

I didnt mention anything in my post regarding how many motorways Dublin has. Im just debating why the N3 was prioritised over the N17 at the time, no more.

ah ok, if thats the case, I'll withdraw my attack,
I'm just fed up of people thinking that what happens in Kildare and Meath is someway controlled by people from Dublin. Apologies, its just that some people in Ireland think that all investment is prioritised to Dublin when in reality, Wicklow, Louth, Kildare and Meath get equally if not a better allocation of roads than Dublin given their loadings!

I'm a regular traveller of the N3 and would agree that what it needed is either a 2+1 or a dual carriageway, motorway is overkill, but thats what the democratically elected council of Meath opted for, so who am I to criticise - at least the taxpayer isn't paying for it.Post Number 178 outlines my opinion what should have been done here!

As regards other roads, I agree that the numbers of vehicles or the number of accidents should dictate priority on a national basis.

Tech3

D'Peoples Voice wrote: »

As regards other roads, I agree that the numbers of vehicles or the number of accidents should dictate priority on a national basis.

Agreed. The N20 stretch and the N11 gap are the most dangerous primary routes in the country and deserve to get attention in the next yew years.

Anyway sorry for going off topic, guess we could do with a few pics of the progress from anyone around the area. The latest newsletter is too outdated back to september 2007 but here it is:

Setpember 2007 M3 progress

spacetweek

fricatus wrote: »

You may be technically correct, in that none of the M3 will be in Dublin, and Kildare has more miles of motorway, but as far as I can gather, every single inch of motorway in this state is part of a route leading to or from Dublin, and a quick glance at any map of motorways in this country confirms that our motorway network has one single purpose: to serve Dublin.

People totally overstate this though. Of course the motorway network is going to be focussed on Dublin for much of its development: quite simply, that's the origin and destination of most traffic. In the 2010s we'll see other nodes appearing.

tech2 wrote: »

N17: 24,105
N3: 16,592

Thats another 50% on top of the current N3 traffic.

What year are those counts from? I think it's surprising that the N17 has more traffic than the N3. Were the counts like that back in 1999 when the M3 was planned?

MYOB wrote: »

Much as I disagree with Salafia; the M1 and M4 do run through Meath. They don't, however, serve the bits of it with any significant population and both basically just glance off the county on their way past...

Exactly - the county isn't serviced by any motorways. I know that geographically, two skirt it, but they don't bypass or lead to any towns.

Chris_533976

spacetweek wrote: »

What year are those counts from? I think it's surprising that the N17 has more traffic than the N3. Were the counts like that back in 1999 when the M3 was planned?

Im not sure which year he got them from, but the N17 takes a massive amount of commuter traffic from Tuam etc into Galway. FWIW the M17 wont solve the problems, its too far out and will not provide an adequate bypass of Claregalway.

lostexpectation

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/articles/1/38111

Councillor’s fury as motorists to pay toll on way into Pace station and on exiting the new M3 motorway

MOTORISTS will have to pay a road toll on their way into the new railway station at Pace when they are exiting the new M3 motorway next year, a councillor claimed this week.

?

mysterious

I still think this road is a white elephant road. It's just another con to create urban sprawl in Meath and make the commuters pay to travel to the work in the city.

They should of built a rail line..... It would carry more people, cost less, be much more efficent and attractive. It would take cars of the road not put more cars on the road. It might even relieve the M50. But hey lets not think sense.

This motorway is designed to create more traffic have you seen all the dedicated local accesses:eek: to and from the Interchange.

Then the Motorways end's in the middle of nowhere.

Rant over....

KevR

mysterious wrote: »

I still think this road is a white elephant road. It's just another con to create urban sprawl in Meath and make the commuters pay to travel to the work in the city.

Only way to really solve that is for Dublin firms to only hire Dublin people from Dublin and not people from Meath or Dublin people living in Meath. Send the Meathians back to Meath to find work. They won't be long moving back to Dublin.

"Dublin jobs for Dublin dwellers - reducing urban sprawl in Meath": certainly has a ring to it.



Joking of course.

dubhthach

I recall 10 years ago there was a proposal to build a motorway situated between the N2 and N3. The idea been that it would replace both roads and would tie in with the M50 midway between the blanch junction and the N2.

I believe the route was east of hill of skryne. And it would spilt south of Navan with one branch going to Navan and becoming the N3 and the other branch to continue on as the N3.

I think it would probably have been alot cheaper then building a seperate M3 and dual carriageway to Ashbourne. If anything the savings could have been used to provide for the reopening of the railway to Navan.

spacetweek

dubhthach wrote: »

I recall 10 years ago there was a proposal to build a motorway situated between the N2 and N3. The idea been that it would replace both roads and would tie in with the M50 midway between the blanch junction and the N2.

Never heard of that. Doesn't sound like it was ever a goer, as no junction number was reserved for it and how would it get through the Ballycoolin industrial area? Which makes me think it was never a serious proposition.

Cool Mo D

It sounds very like the plan to replace the N4 and N7 with a new M7 motorway, starting at a new junction on the M50, but that was abandoned in favour of widening for the N7. I believe there is a junction number still free for it.

L1011

Was down taking a look at this today, the section up through the valley (the one Tarawatch still claim can be rerouted) has the lower layers of asphalt and either the central drain or the Jersey barrier in place for most of it - could be finished in a month of concerted effort.

The section down towards Dunboyne is far less progressed in parts - there is still an R road crossing the mainline at-grade (Dunshauglin->Kilcock road) at one stage!

I've got a few photos if anyone is interested.