NRA"s bid to axe 'crucial" link roads in Navan

There has been a furious reaction in Navan this week to attempts by the National Roads Authority (NRA) to axe plans for three crucial link roads around the town. In a submission to Meath County Council, the NRA called for a halt to plans for three distributor roads, which have been proposed for some time. The roads in question are planned to form part of an inner circle of routes around the town and have been a major part of council plans to alleviate traffic in the town centre and to provide linkages to the many estates around Navan. The roads under threat include a link from the Dublin Road to the Trim Road at Kilcarn, the link between the Trim and Athboy Roads and a road joining the Kells Road with the Windtown Road. With an existing link from Johnstown to the Dublin Road and from the Athboy to Kells Road already in place, these roads would form a major network around the town. The NRA this week signalled its opposition to the roads in its submission to Meath County Council on the Navan Development Plan. In its submission, the NRA"s policy advisor, Michael McCormack, expressed concern on the impact these three roads would have on the carrying capacity, efficiency and safety of the M3 and the N51 (Navan/Athboy) roads. However, in his response to the NRA"s submission, Meath County Manager Tom Dowling pointed out that the link from Kilcarn to the Trim Road is already an objective of the existing development plan. He pointed out that traffic growth figures had been used to justify the M3 and its link roads and it was illogical to now suggest that the M3 scheme must be protected from the same development-generated traffic. He said that, once the M3 opened, through traffic in Navan would be reduced by 78 per cent and there would be very little incentive for local traffic to use the link roads or motorway for local trips as it would be more convenient to use the existing N3, which would no longer be a national road. Cllr Tommy Reilly reacted furiously to the NRA"s submission and has called for Mr McCormack to come before a meeting of elected representatives in Navan to explain himself. 'I was shocked to see an attempt by the NRA to tell the elected representatives of Navan what they can and cannot do with their town development plan. The attempt to curtail the local town distributor roads by unelected, faceless bureaucrats is not acceptable,' he said. 'If the NRA have their way and stop us providing the town"s internal distribution roads, how are we going to facilitate the expansion of Navan to the proposed population of 60,000? How are we going to provide jobs in Navan?' he asked. 'The NRA should not be putting their hands into the Navan Town Development Plan,' he went on. The draft Navan Development Plan will now go before Navan area councillors for approval and will then go to a full county council meeting for approval. The NRA has the option of appealing the plan to Bord Pleanala if the council includes the three roads in the development plan for the town.