We’re on the one road

Not in my years has there been so much anticipation. The decision of the proposed route of the new Oilgate to Rosslare N11 was finally announced today to councillors. Originally there were 8 different routes listed as possible. Now it is down to one preferred option. I know that most people will scratch their heads and wonder where will the money and traffic come for this project given the mantra that we are where we are!
The proposed route bypasses Oilgate to the east and rejoins the N11 until Newcastle where it will branch off west of Ferrycarrig Bridge before rejoining the alignment a the Barntown Roundabout. There is a new bridge proposed over the Slaney near the Irish National Heritage Park. Next it continues to Drinagh along the present bypass and curves away before the Drinagh roundabout to follow the course of the already agreed routé of the Wexford Rosslare road provided for about 10 years ago. In comparison to what could have been its minimal in its delineation,

Lets deal with that one about money. The criticism of the M50 roundabouts at Red Cow intersection was that it was designed and built when usege was low and that the time to do the spade work on any infrastructural expansion in a better economic environment in the future is now. The second point that makes it sound more realistic is that the project can be built bit by bit as there are several intersections with the existing national primary roads where the routes can re-join.
My initial fear was that the preferred route would take the road away from Wexford town in the direction of the N25 with the consequent bypassing of the town and the likely bypassing of New Ross, I reckoned Dungarvan would be the first town that the tourist would meet on the way to Kerry. That fear has come to nought. I’d hate to think of Wexford as being one more sign post on the way to somewhere else. Now I’m reassured.
A word of the actual preferred route. The maps provide for a 300M strip wide within which just 100M width of land will be ultimately used. If you look at the map and see your house in the line of the road it doesn’t necessarily meant that the road will go through your house. Indeed it will probably give the planers the leeway to avoid knocking any house and incurring extra cost. I know that when people look at the Whitford House and Clonard Village will see the land in the 300M zone however there is no certainty that there will be an intersection here, My view is that there will be just 2 intersections, one at Drinagh and another at Barntown with a linking distributor road collecting local traffic to these junctions.

It will take many years before the design and planning permission stages are over. There will be an oral hearing and the matter will go to An Bord Pleanála direct as it is critical infrastructure. It could be 20 years before it is built and given that its 10 years since the preferred route of the Enniscorthy bypass was agreed and still land hasn’t been purchased then it’s not a case of holding ones breath. Not so much a giant step today but a baby step but a step it was!
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For whom the road tolls!

If you want clear evidence that the government has lost touch it’s today’s suggestion that its time to toll National Primary Routes. The argument in favour is one of equity! If Dublin and surrounding counties are paying tolls then its time the rest of us coughed up!
That ignores the financial reality, one I’ve always had difficulty with. The alternative to state investment in delivering public services is supposed to be that the private sector could provide roads and schools better than the state in a more efficient way. That’s why I paid a toll the other day when I drove across the Suir Bridge on the N25. The logic of the FF/PD government was that the builder took the risk by financing and delivering and operating a project on time. East Link, West Link, Motorway, it was all GAMA’s way! Indeed some who’re now in government opposed GAMA’s roads on the cheap and on double quick time.
But now tolling roads is on the agenda simply as a tax raising measure. Like all good ideas thought up in a rush, the real costs were ignored. Firstly all National Primary Roads have side roads that all link up. What would be the cost of building and maintaining the toll stations and how much revenue would be lost as motorists negotiate their way around the back roads to void paying the toll.
Let me give you a perfect example the N11 is the main road from Wexford to Dublin. If I take the R741 direct to Gorey I can join the N11 a mile south of Gorey and avoid 7 extra miles of driving and a possible tail back at Enniscorthy. So R741 is my usual route. So if the new N11 is tolled and the carrot to the County Council is the revenue, why would I take this road to Dublin? Faster yes but more expensive! NRA spin often emphasises how much is cut off journey time but what counts now is the point to point time not from between notional points. As it is Wexford is on average 2 hours from the southside of Dublin. What’s the additional economic benefit of being 1 hr 50 mins?
I make this point because at present there is a local controversy about the new Rosslare Harbour motorway. Having looked at the potential routes I’m annoyed that some routes take the traffic well away from Wexford Town. We’ve had a bypass for 20 years or more and now the potential routes will take long distance traffic further away from the town. Down the road, (No pun intended!) how likely is it that this road will be tolled? How much will be raised and if the original N11 is re-used by big volumes of traffic and new upgraded national primary roads don’t carry the expected volumes who carries the can for the lost revenue? The government? The County Council? The NRA? At the end of the day whoever takes the hit it’s ultimately the taxpayer who’s caught out on this one.
Wexford is hugely reliant on the N11 and the N25. You can’t get into the county without using a national primary route. A toll in my mind is a bridge too far. Listening to Minister Gormley tonight on the TV, I’m not convinced that he understand how peripheral counties could be hit by tolling national primary routes. Wexford relies on roads to access Rosslare Harbour, given the reality that tolls now can be done by cameras rather than physically paid at a booth and arrears build quickly are we in danger of pricing ourselves out of the market when it comes to holiday makers using ferries for foreign holidays? Will tolls turn people off using Rosslare? I hope not.