Updated: Wednesday, 4th November, 2009 5:08pm

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'Uprising' predicted in Duleek over plans for orbital route

PLANS for a new 80km motorway - the Leinster Orbital Route - displayed at a Meath County Council meeting this week would be greeted with "an uprising" when it was seen by the people of Duleek and East Meath, a councillor declared.

The plans for the road, which would sweep from Drogheda to Slane, Navan, Trim, Kilcock, Naas and Kilcullen, are at an early planning stage and got a heavily qualified welcome from council members. However, serious doubts were raised over the need to keep a 2km-wide corridor of land open while consultations take place over the choosing of a final route for the motorway.

Councillors expressed concern that extensive land masses would be sterilised and out of bounds for development while planning for the motorway went on.

Doubts about the plan - shown to members by two senior National Roads Authority (NRA) officials - were raised by Cllr Jimmy Cudden who said that he had viewed them on the internet. He said that he lived in Duleek, where they already had the Irish Cement factory and an incinerator under construction, and it appeared to him that the proposed new motorway would be "squeezed in between the cement factory and the Drogheda-Navan railway line".

But most of his reservations centre on the Commons area of Duleek, "a national heritage area", and a nearby residential estate, High Meadows. "I am very familiar with the place having driven a coach and delivered children to school from there and there is a very small space between the estate and the railway line".

"When this plan is seen by the people of East Meath and Duleek I can only envisage that there will be a total uprising on this. This proposal won't get through". He said that a 2001 plan for the orbital route had shown that it would "avoid the village of Duleek altogether".

In their presentation to councillors, the NRA officials Nigel O'Neill, senior project manager, Strategic Planning Unit and Hugh Creegan, head of PPP, Commercial Operations and Strategic Planning, said that the plan was supported by the regional planning guidelines, A Platform for Change, Transport 21, National Development Plan 2007-2013.

There had been previous studies in 2001-2002, a feasibility study 2006/2007. It had been issued to the Department of Transport in March 2007. There had also been a recent exercise undertaken at likely junction locations to identify possible land protection to preserve viable routes.

The officials were unable to give a cost for the project or project when it might get under way.

They said that constraints had been mapped so as to identify potential corridors. There were also significant archaeological constraints on picking a route and there were other topographical, ecological, development and environmental constraints.

In deciding the route for the motorway, there were limited options between Navan and Drogheda but more variation in route corridors south of Trim. There would also be a significant challenge in connecting with the M3 at Navan. The officials said that a feasibility study had shown that the orbital route would be beneficial for the region in terms of strengthening links between key development centres, assisting economic development and improving the overall transport network.

After the study had been completed, the officials said, the recommendation of the NRA to the Department of Transport was that the scheme should be progressed to the next stage of development - the preparation of the statutory documentation for the project.

Cllr Eoin Holmes said he wanted to know the status of the plan and how the "corridor" for possible routes had been chosen. He said it would be very hard for people to get their heads around the whole project and he would like to have seen a more detailed outline of the route selection process.

Cllr Eugene Cassidy raised questions over the possibility of having a 2km-wide corridor preserved along an 80km route. Was it the case that no planning permission could be granted within that 2km corridor, he asked.

Cllr John Farrelly said he believed that more clarity was needed about the plan. They had to be careful that they did not tie up a 2km sweep of countryside while waiting for a final route to be selected. He said that some people had been "very busy" in coming up with a number of drafts up to June 2007 (when the General Election had been held) but they had not heard anything after that from people who were making decisions about the motorway.

Council chairman Bill Carey said he hoped that the people of Meath would not be left "dangling on a string" for 10 years awaiting decisions on the motorway.

Cllr Joe Reilly said that what they had to do was ensure that the project was included in the National Development Plan. However, they would first have to ask if the project was actually needed. Would they not be better spending money on a public transport system, he asked.

Cllr Brian Fitzgerald said, "What I can see here is a whole stretch of land in Co Meath being tied up for ever and a day". He also asked if the road would be tolled. Cllr Tommy Reilly said that he had been shouting for 10 years about the need for an outer orbital route. The motorway would "open up the county" and bring development, a regional college, hospitals and industries. He hoped there would be a quick decision on the selection of final route. They had talked about a railway line from Navan to Dublin for 20 years and a local TD, Noel Dempsey had put up the money to get the project under way.

One of the NRA officials promised councillors that when the NRA developed up the route process, they would first show it to them before putting it on display to the public.