IT is crucial that the delivery of the N/M20 Cork to Limerick road does not have unintended or negative consequences for towns and villages along the route – Patrickswell and Croom.
That was the strong message from Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney at a special meeting on the long-awaited road hoped to cut travel times between Limerick and Cork by 40 minutes for cars, 45 minutes for busses, and 50 minutes for heavy goods vehicles.
A planning application for the €1.2billion road is programmed to be submitted to An Bord Pleanála next year, after it is presented to government later this year.
At this monday’s special meeting, members of Limerick City and County Council met to discuss their concerns.
Cllr McSweeney raised serious worries over a design update, issued by the Mid West Road Deign Office in June last year, outlining a significant proposed change to traffic flow around Patrickswell village — specifically, the partial closure of Junction 5 at Attyflin.
“In real terms, this proposal means that motorists wishing to travel to or from Limerick will no longer be able to exit at Junction 5, nor will those wishing to travel to Adare or coming from Cork,” he pointed out.
“The consequence? Increased traffic volumes pushed back through Patrickswell village — a community that was deliberately bypassed in 2001 due to heavy congestion.”
McSweeney told Council management that a local group formed in recent weeks to lead the charge on the issue.
“I am aware that some members have spent a lot of time in compiling traffic figures by speaking with many local businesses to understand the local traffic movements at the junction. In recent days they have arrived at a conservative figure of in the region of 700 additional car movements within Patrickswell each day,” the Fine Gael councillor told the meeting.
“When this change was first announced, I, along with many of my colleagues, made it clear to the Mid West Road Design team that this was not — and is not — an acceptable solution. It would inevitably lead to having a negative effect on of quality of life of those already living in Patrickswell and pose real safety issues within the village.”
Cllr McSweeney noted that the concerns had led to a months-long engagement period with the company.
He went on to say that while it was encouraging to hear options are still being considered, it became evident to him during presentations that the preferred proposal would still result in increased traffic through Patrickswell.
“Pushing unnecessary traffic back into our village — traffic that has no need to come through Patrickswell — is not acceptable. It is, quite frankly, beyond unthinkable,” he said.
“Let me be crystal clear, as an elected representative living locally, I will not support any transport proposal that has significant negative impacts the community I represent.”
Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler supported his party colleague and called for assurance that the issue would be rectified for Patrickswell.
N/M20 project coordinator Jari Howard, of the Mid West National Road Design Office, told Council members that he received their message “loud and clear”.
“Our intent is to try and come up with a solution. We’re trying to get it right and push it forward. We’ll work closely together to be able to get that forward and we’ll keep you informed,” he concluded.
