July 21, 2003
Off the rails
The Sunday Tribune (whose website is Under Construction for God knows how long) carried a full page story on the West on Track campaign, to establish a commuter rail service between Limerick and Sligo, that would link Mayo towns such as Kiltimagh, Claremorris and Tuam to the main Dublin to Galway line at Athenry, and to Limerick via Craughwell, Gort and Ennis. Critics of the plan say that the population density is too low to support the railway (the paper interviews Dr. Sean Barrett who is particularly sceptical of the proposal); it's supporters claim that this sort of infrastructure will encourage further development to the West. The campaign estimates that the project would cost around 200 million euro to build. Says Fr. Micheál MacGréil, one of the campaigners,
The powers that be want to gentrify the west and have it as a good place for tourism. We want to retain the indigenous population; develop communities and also have it as a pleasant place to visit.
It's all very laudable, though I would also like to see the old Galway to Clifden line re-opened - it passes through some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland, and would serve both tourists and commuters alike.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Independent reports that the motorway from Waterford to Dublin has begun (well, the compulsory purchase orders are in the post). It will cost 1.3 billion euro but PD senator John Dardis complains that
if you can justify building a motorway there, you could equally justify a motorway anywhere else in Ireland.
Martin Cullen is the Minister for the Environment (and ironically, also responsible for building roads across as much of the environment as possible). He sees the road as absolutely necessary. Guess where Martin is from?
However, a local campaign group called the N9N10 Unified Group point out that the projected traffic volumes in twenty years time would be 18, 000 vehicles per day. The proposed motorway will have the capacity for 72,000 vehicles a day. The group would like the existing roads upgraded instead. Mind you, the projections made 10 years ago for future traffic levels were off by a mile (hence the mess we're in today) so maybe it's best to err on the side of safety. I just wish they'd start such roadbuilding a bit further west
Posted by Monasette at July 21, 2003 10:43 PM | TrackBack