There is no point in having two roads between Rathkeevin and
Cahir. The existing roadway (though in need of major up-grading) has a current capacity of about 5000 vehicles per day (our estimate) although current usage is 7800 vehicles per day. If a new roadway is built through a Greenfield location, the combined capacity of the two will be 50,000 vehicles per day (if a dual carriageway goes ahead as planned) or 19,000 vehicles per day if the dual carriageway is scaled back to a wide two-lane roadway.
Both of these options lead to gross over-capacity and this is inherently wasteful.
There will be two roadways that require maintenance (hedge-trimming, repairs and re-surfacing, line painting etc.). There will still be remedial work to be carried out on the existing roadway because the dangerous corners will still be dangerous. |
Although the consultants claim that it will be cheaper to build a new roadway, we believe that common sense and the published NRA figures indicate otherwise
(see Costs page).
We therefore submit that there should only be a single roadway between Rathkeevin and
Cahir, and that this should be a re-alignment of the current roadway.
Interestingly, this is also the recommendation made in the National Roads Needs Study schedule of improvement needs (Annex 4) where a wide two-lane roadway is recommended for this route at an estimated cost of € 16.7 (1998 prices).
Furthermore, the NRA proceeded with this option to the point where land surveys were undertaken and detailed plans were drawn up. |
