A GROUP which lobbied against the Slane bypass because of its impact on the Brú na Bóinne heritage site has welcomed a decision by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar to suspend its development.
Mr Varadkar recently said no new road projects were to start in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and only six projects already under way would be completed this year. The Minister has instructed the National Roads Authority to bring all road projects in planning to the end of their current planning stage and then suspend them with a view to reopening them in the future.
Only the N25 Cork SRR interchanges, the N3 Belturbet bypass, the N5 Longford bypass, the N22 Tralee bypass, the N4 Downs Grade Separation and the N52 Carrickbridge to Dalystown will go ahead this year.
The Slane bypass had been the subject of an oral hearing and is currently under consideration by An Bord Pleanála.
Local residents in Slane had lobbied for its construction because of the high level of road deaths on and around the town’s bridge. However heritage groups had expressed outrage at the choice of route for the bypass, which brought it close to Brú na Bóinne, a Unesco world heritage site.
Vincent Salafia, spokesman for Save Newgrange, said the group was relieved by confirmation that the Slane bypass was among the projects suspended.
“The county council’s own expert, along with numerous internationally renowned experts, advised against the proposed route because of the damage it would do to the world heritage site,” he said.
He called on Meath County Council, the National Roads Authority and the Minister to work together to implement a HGV ban in the village.In a statement yesterday, the Department of Transport said it would be “reckless and irresponsible to spend €20-€30 million a year” to bring roads projects on to their next planning stage when there was no money to build them and they were “struggling to find adequate funds to maintain existing roads”.
The same decision was taken for the Luas BXD, Metro North and Dart Underground projects on which €200 million had been spent.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label slane bypass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slane bypass. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Slane bypass ruling later
AN BORD Pleanála has deferred a decision on Meath County Council's controversial plan for a 3.5km bypass of Slane village.
The N2 Slane Bypass would take traffic off the existing Dublin-Derry road via a new dual carriageway to the east of the village crossing the Boyne over a new 216m concrete bridge.
The planning board had been due to make a decision on the project this week.
However, a board representative has confirmed that the matter has been put back and is now due to be decided by August 30th.
Earlier this year an 18-day oral hearing on the impact of the project heard evidence from more than 30 witnesses, including world heritage expert Dr Douglas Comer.
The council and local residents say the bypass is needed to improve safety in Slane
Twenty-two people have died in road crashes there over the years.
Opponents of the bypass claim the project, especially the concrete bridge, would spoil views into and out of the Brú na Bóinne site which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
The objectors also claim the bypass could endanger the area's status as a world heritage site.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The N2 Slane Bypass would take traffic off the existing Dublin-Derry road via a new dual carriageway to the east of the village crossing the Boyne over a new 216m concrete bridge.
The planning board had been due to make a decision on the project this week.
However, a board representative has confirmed that the matter has been put back and is now due to be decided by August 30th.
Earlier this year an 18-day oral hearing on the impact of the project heard evidence from more than 30 witnesses, including world heritage expert Dr Douglas Comer.
The council and local residents say the bypass is needed to improve safety in Slane
Twenty-two people have died in road crashes there over the years.
Opponents of the bypass claim the project, especially the concrete bridge, would spoil views into and out of the Brú na Bóinne site which includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
The objectors also claim the bypass could endanger the area's status as a world heritage site.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Monday, 22 November 2010
'Even-handed' hearing on Slane bypass promised
THE ORAL hearing into the Slane bypass will be “even-handed” when considering whether an eastern or western route around the village is preferable, according to An Bord Pleanála.
Confirming that the hearing into the proposed road will take place, probably next February, a spokesman said: “It will be an open and even-handed assessment on both proposed options.”
There are more than 100 objectors to the bypass. The hearing is expected to hear strong arguments from opponents to the eastern route which runs close to the buffer zone of the Brú na Bóinne Unseco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
The western route, which would dissect the Slane Castle estate and affect its famous concert arena, was rejected by the council in its environmental impact statement.
However, in reply in the planning board, the council supplied additional information on this option.
Slane is on the N2 and on a crossroads on the banks of the Boyne river and is approached by steep hills. The bypass would remove some of the 7,000 vehicles a day that pass through the village.
Meanwhile, members of the Bypass Slane group say they are “very disappointed” the village was not included as one of the locations being targeted in the new crackdown on speeding using mobile speed cameras.
The last fatality was in 2001. It is almost two years since there was a multi-vehicle pile-up there involving a number of local women who were dropping their children to school. The women helped to establish the Bypass Slane campaign.
Spokeswoman Michele Power said: “The only thing we have to protect us from another accident is the 30km/h speed limit introduced after the pile up.”
The group said the limit was only complied with by local residents and that last Friday morning, it seemed that practically every vehicle entering the village was breaking it; speeds of up to 60km/h were being recorded on a flashing speed signpost outside the primary school.
“Why do we have to go and fight again for something we should already have?” Ms Power asked.
The Garda Press Office said the locations identified for speed cameras were chosen according to a number of criteria, including the number of injuries and fatalities on the road in question and whether people were keeping to the limits.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Confirming that the hearing into the proposed road will take place, probably next February, a spokesman said: “It will be an open and even-handed assessment on both proposed options.”
There are more than 100 objectors to the bypass. The hearing is expected to hear strong arguments from opponents to the eastern route which runs close to the buffer zone of the Brú na Bóinne Unseco world heritage site that includes Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.
The western route, which would dissect the Slane Castle estate and affect its famous concert arena, was rejected by the council in its environmental impact statement.
However, in reply in the planning board, the council supplied additional information on this option.
Slane is on the N2 and on a crossroads on the banks of the Boyne river and is approached by steep hills. The bypass would remove some of the 7,000 vehicles a day that pass through the village.
Meanwhile, members of the Bypass Slane group say they are “very disappointed” the village was not included as one of the locations being targeted in the new crackdown on speeding using mobile speed cameras.
The last fatality was in 2001. It is almost two years since there was a multi-vehicle pile-up there involving a number of local women who were dropping their children to school. The women helped to establish the Bypass Slane campaign.
Spokeswoman Michele Power said: “The only thing we have to protect us from another accident is the 30km/h speed limit introduced after the pile up.”
The group said the limit was only complied with by local residents and that last Friday morning, it seemed that practically every vehicle entering the village was breaking it; speeds of up to 60km/h were being recorded on a flashing speed signpost outside the primary school.
“Why do we have to go and fight again for something we should already have?” Ms Power asked.
The Garda Press Office said the locations identified for speed cameras were chosen according to a number of criteria, including the number of injuries and fatalities on the road in question and whether people were keeping to the limits.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Ex-attorney general among objectors to Slane bypass near prehistoric sites
FORMER ATTORNEY general John Rogers SC, who lives in the Boyne valley, will be among the objectors to plans by Meath County Council and the National Roads Authority (NRA) to build a bypass of Slane 500 metres from the Brú na Bóinne archaeological complex.
Today is the last day for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála, which will adjudicate on the scheme under the 2006 Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Depending on the number of objections, the board may decide to hold an oral hearing.
The proposed route, running east of Slane, is being opposed by the newly formed Save Newgrange campaign, led by Vincent Salafia, who was prominent in the protracted struggle against the M3 motorway because of its proximity to the Hill of Tara.
Yesterday, Mr Salafia called on An Bord Pleanála to extend the deadline, arguing that the public notice was inadequate, that more time was needed by the public and that access to information on the project had been “unreasonably curtailed”.
He said Save Newgrange had lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging the public consultation process was “flawed” and calling on the commission to intervene so the deadline could be extended for 90 days.
The planned new section of the N2 is 3.5km long and would cross the river Boyne on a new bridge at a location 1.1km to the east of the existing Slane Bridge, which has been the scene of several traffic incidents involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The frequency and severity of these incidents have been reduced since 2002, when the county council introduced extra traffic signals and an overhead gantry on the steeper southbound approach to the bridge, to control HGVs.
It is estimated that some 1,600 HGVs pass through the centre of Slane village every day. The volume of such traffic on the N2 led local residents to campaign for a ban on HGVs in Slane, and this was adopted by the county council in April 2009.
The resolution was not implemented because of fears that it “could have serious consequences for Meath County Council in terms of possible legal exposure, delivery delays and business frustration”, according to director of services Eugene Cummins.
The environmental impact statement (EIS) on the bypass proposal says it would remove through-traffic from the existing N2 through Slane, improving the village’s environment as well as giving an “improved level of service” on the route.
However, it concedes that the new stretch of the N2 route would be “just over 500 metres from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, comprising the three main prehistoric sites [of] Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”, on the north bank of the Boyne.
“The assessment identified 44 archaeological and cultural heritage constraints within 500m of the route. Of these, five will be impacted directly, two will be impacted indirectly and 34 will have no predicted impact,” according to the EIS.
For the 10 sites that would be affected, the potential impact is rated as “potentially significant” for three, “moderate” for two, “slight” for another two and “no predicted impact” for one.
The remaining two are “areas of undetermined archaeological potential”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Today is the last day for making submissions to An Bord Pleanála, which will adjudicate on the scheme under the 2006 Strategic Infrastructure Act.
Depending on the number of objections, the board may decide to hold an oral hearing.
The proposed route, running east of Slane, is being opposed by the newly formed Save Newgrange campaign, led by Vincent Salafia, who was prominent in the protracted struggle against the M3 motorway because of its proximity to the Hill of Tara.
Yesterday, Mr Salafia called on An Bord Pleanála to extend the deadline, arguing that the public notice was inadequate, that more time was needed by the public and that access to information on the project had been “unreasonably curtailed”.
He said Save Newgrange had lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, alleging the public consultation process was “flawed” and calling on the commission to intervene so the deadline could be extended for 90 days.
The planned new section of the N2 is 3.5km long and would cross the river Boyne on a new bridge at a location 1.1km to the east of the existing Slane Bridge, which has been the scene of several traffic incidents involving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
The frequency and severity of these incidents have been reduced since 2002, when the county council introduced extra traffic signals and an overhead gantry on the steeper southbound approach to the bridge, to control HGVs.
It is estimated that some 1,600 HGVs pass through the centre of Slane village every day. The volume of such traffic on the N2 led local residents to campaign for a ban on HGVs in Slane, and this was adopted by the county council in April 2009.
The resolution was not implemented because of fears that it “could have serious consequences for Meath County Council in terms of possible legal exposure, delivery delays and business frustration”, according to director of services Eugene Cummins.
The environmental impact statement (EIS) on the bypass proposal says it would remove through-traffic from the existing N2 through Slane, improving the village’s environment as well as giving an “improved level of service” on the route.
However, it concedes that the new stretch of the N2 route would be “just over 500 metres from the Unesco World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, comprising the three main prehistoric sites [of] Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth”, on the north bank of the Boyne.
“The assessment identified 44 archaeological and cultural heritage constraints within 500m of the route. Of these, five will be impacted directly, two will be impacted indirectly and 34 will have no predicted impact,” according to the EIS.
For the 10 sites that would be affected, the potential impact is rated as “potentially significant” for three, “moderate” for two, “slight” for another two and “no predicted impact” for one.
The remaining two are “areas of undetermined archaeological potential”.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)