Navan consultation on transport strategy for region

The National Transport Authority has launched an extensive public consultation on its Draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area that takes in County Meath, and will hold a public information session in Meath County Council, County Hall, Navan on Monday next. Looking ahead to the year 2030 and beyond, the Strategy is available for download at www.2030vision.ie. Public comments and feedback are welcomed until the closing date of 11th April. The information session on Monday 7th March is from 2pm to 5pm, and the public is invited to study the consultation documents and put their queries to members of the Authority's strategy team. This Draft Transport Strategy follows three years of consultation with members of the public and with business and community and public representatives. The Draft will be finalised for presentation to the Minister for Transport in May/June following this last round of public consultation. "Everyone living and working in the Greater Dublin region is ambitious now for a good quality of life, for an economically competitive region, where work, facilities and friends are within easy reach. And when our economy grows, we need to be ready for the additional journeys and traffic that this will bring. Long term transport planning plays a fundamental part in preparing for this future", said Gerry Murphy, CEO of the National Transport Authority. The National Transport Authority's Strategy is not simply a list of transport infrastructure measures, such as a new road or a train line upgrade. It also proposes changes in the management and operation of the existing transport network in order to make best use of what we already have available to us. In addition, it sets out policies to integrate land use planning and transportation service delivery, and it highlights the importance of personal travel management in ensuring that the region fulfils its true potential. Copies of the Strategy report and its associated environmental documents are available for download and comment on the Authority's consultation website, www.2030vision.ie. They are also on display in hard copy at the Authority's offices at Dun Sceine, Iveagh Court, Harcourt Lane, Dublin 2 from 9am to 5pm (including lunchtimes) Monday to Friday until the closing date of Monday 11th April 2011. The National Transport Authority will publish a detailed six-year plan for the implementation of its strategic programme within nine months of the Strategy's approval by the Minister. And in six years' time, in 2017, the Authority will publish an updated long term transport strategy for the region.