Motorway Tolls Shock For Local
Drivers
By - Joan Duignan.
TOLL systems to be operated on the new routes between
Clonee and Kells and Finglas and Ashbourne will have
"profound implications" for Meath drivers, Meath Co.
Councillor Jim Holloway has warned.
The move to introduce tolls on the motorways has been
criticised strongly by the Fine Gael Co. Councillor, who
is also a member of the local authority's infrastructural
Strategic Policy Committee.
Colr. Holloway, who said the decision to introduce tolls
was "a complete shock", complained that the Cabinet (of
which local TD Noel Dempsey is a member) had agreed to
this without consulting the Co. Council.
The Environment and Local Government Minister's special
advisor, Meath Co. Councillor Jimmy Fegan, who is also a
Strategic Policy Committee member, predicted that the
decision would provide a "safe route for economic, social
and agricultural traffic within Co. Meath".
Colr. Fegan, who explained that Monday's SPC
infrastructure meeting had been informed that it was now
planned to revise the new N3 from dual-carriageway to
motorway status, added that he had proposed writing to
the National Roads Authority (NRA) on the issue of
maintenance of the current N3.
Members had endorsed his proposal that the NRA should
maintain this road, currently the main arterial route for
traffic from the west and north-west.
The sooner this traffic from the west and north-west,
which contributed nothing to Meath's economy, but
polluted local towns, was required to move onto a
motorway, the better, he said.
If this motorway had to be constructed by private
enterprise and tolling introduced, then so be it, he
added.
The net gain would be to people between Clonee and
Carnaross who would benefit from greater comfort of
travel and less stress.
"What is going to be the level of tolls on the new
route?" asked Colr. Holloway in a statement on the move.
The private consortium building the roads would need to
recoup the costs, he added. A return journey to Dublin
costing £5 each way with, for example, an extra
£1 to use the M50 for a driver working in that area
would add up to £60 per week for the daily
commuter. He described this as "not a nice prospect for
the already overcharged motorist and with fuel costs
excessively high by international standards".
He predicted that many drivers would not use the motorway
but would opt for the existing N3, leading to continued
congestion there. The other option, already used by
harassed drivers, would be to use side roads.
He complained that residents on the Walterstown to
Ratoath road were gravely concerned about speeding
motorists. "Tolling a motorway through the Meath
countryside will do nothing to alleviate this problem",
he said. Tolling the motorway would add "untold hardship"
and leave the existing network congested.
© The Meath Chronicle, 21st. October 2000.
