ALMOST €120m has been spent on land to build the controversial M3 motorway linking Dublin with the north east.
The cost makes the motorway among the most expensive road-building projects undertaken here, and represents a windfall for landowners who received an average of almost €69,000 per acre.
Yesterday Meath County Council, which is buying land on behalf of the National Roads Authority, said it had spent €117m buying the 1,700 acres needed to build the 47km carriageway which has been bitterly opposed by campaigners and archaeologists.
A contentious section between Dunshaughlin and Navan runs through the heart of the Tara/Skryne Valley and it is claimed that it has already resulted in a national monument being destroyed to make way for the road.
Campaigners claim irreparable damage will be caused to archaeology in the area to facilitate construction works.
A council spokesman said yesterday that although a "small number" of landowners were in dispute with the council over the amount paid, it did not expect the total spend to rise.
If the M3 opens on schedule in July 2010, almost 23,000 vehicles a day are expected to use it. This will lead to toll payments of at least €13m a year.
The cost of building the road is expected to be between €800m and €1bn.
It will bypass the towns of Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells.
Campaigners yesterday conceded that, given the amount spent, it would be a brave politician who decided to halt construction.
But they said the land purchases represented an opportunity for the State to build a heritage park along the controversial section of the road, between Dunshaughlin and Navan, which could provide employment in the local area and be a major draw for tourists.
"I don't think Brian Cowen's the man to stop it [construction]," Michael Canney from the Campaign to Save Tara said.
"The money is spent but we would always have advocated a heritage and tourism resource, and it's about time the land was in public ownership.
"If people decide it's better to use it as a tourism resource, it's almost an opportunity."
Laura Grealish from Tarawatch added there was "room for manoeuvre" as other uses could be made of the land.
"I'm sure they could find another use for that land such as turning the area into a tourism centre," she said.
Paul Melia
Irish Independent
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