At the moment Tipperary SR Council, the National Roads Authority and our National Government are proceeding with a scheme to build a new road between Rathkeevin and Cahir on the
Clonmel Cahir road.
A new or re-aligned road is badly needed on this stretch as the current one is clearly undersized and dangerous. However, the scale of what is proposed represents gross over-kill and a waste of our money.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) figures show that in 2001, an average of 7800 vehicles used the road between Rathkeevin and Cahir daily. According to their projections for daily usage, 13,000 vehicles will be using this road in 2019, and 14,000 in 2039.
In their roads plan for 1998-2019, the NRA recommended that the current roadway between Rathkeevin and Cahir be re-aligned and upgraded to a "wide 2 lane roadway" such as the work which has been done between Cahir and
Mitchelstown recently.
According to the NRA, such a "wide 2 lane" roadway has a capacity of 14,000 vehicles per day at high average speeds and with plenty of overtaking opportunities for when slow traffic is met.
Given these figures, and that the NRA say that the re-alignment and up-grading of existing roads is the best option for social, environmental (and economic) reasons, we should probably expect that this is the type of development which would proceed.
However, what is about to commence is a different development. Our authorities wish to build a dual carriageway parallel to the existing roadway. 'Me combined capacity of the dual carriageway and the existing roadway between Rathkeevin and Cahir will be 50,000 vehicles per day.
Given the current traffic volumes of less than 8000 vehicles per day, and the expected level of only 14,000 vehicles
per day thirty- seven years from now, it should be obvious that this is pointless.
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So why has the original plan been altered? Did our politicians think that the money would keep on rolling in? Were they desperate to find something to spend it on? We now know that the funds are already getting tight. Can we afford this type of extravagance?
And just how much of your money will be wasted? Firstly, only 10% of the funds will come from the EU, so it's your money that is being spent. According to the
NRA's 1998 figures, to build one km of dual carriageway costs.€
4.25 million. To build a km of "wide roadway" costs € 2.15 million. On the proposed
Rathkeevin to Cahir route the extra cost of dual carriageway versus the type of roadway you see between a Mitchelstown will run to at least
€ 25 million (excluding annual maintenance costs).
Is this over-spend something you are satisfied with? Even ignoring the social and environmental impact, the dual carriageway option does not stand up to scrutiny.
Are you prepared to do something about it? It's not too late. Soon the politicians will come knocking on your door and looking for your vote. When you ask them about the poor funding for health, education and
Gardai, they'll tell you that if you want extra services they need to raise taxes. Well, perhaps if the money
wasn't wasted on egotistical monuments like this, there'd, be more for worthwhile projects. Tell them what you think.
If you are concerned about the development of a dual carriageway between Rathkeevin and
Cahir, then please come to our public meeting in The Galtee Inn in Cahir at 8pm on Wednesday night, March 13th. Please visit our website at www.theapplefarm.com to read more and register your opinion.
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