LIMERICK COUNTY COUNCIL SIGNS COMPULSORY PURCHASE
ORDER FOR FINAL LINK IN THE BYPASS NETWORK - LIMERICK SOUTHERN
RING ROAD PHASE TWO, INCORPORATING TUNNEL UNDER RIVER SHANNON
Friday 24th October 2003: Limerick County Council
today signed the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the Limerick
Southern Ring Road Phase 2, to include a tunnel under the River
Shannon. All affected landowners and lessees will be notified
and the plans will be available to view at County Hall and the
Mid West National Road Design Office in Mungret College during
working hours. The 9.75km dual carriageway project will cost in
the region of €350 million. If the CPO is approved by An Bord
Pleanála early in 2004, construction could begin in late 2005.
It will take four years to complete.
The tunnel will be the fourth crossing of the River
Shannon in Limerick City and will link the townland of Coonagh
on the northern bank, with the townland of Bunlicky on the southern
bank of the River Shannon. The proposed route will link the Limerick
Southern Ring Road Phase 1 (currently under construction) and
N20 Cork Road at Rossbrien with the N18 Ennis Road, near the Radisson
SAS and Two Mile Inn Hotels.
“The Southern Ring Road Phase 2 will link all national
routes converging on Limerick from Dublin, Tipperary, Cork, Kerry,
Waterford, Foynes, Ennis and Shannon Airport and will be welcomed
by everyone who currently has to drive through the city to get
to other destinations”, says Mr Tim Fitzgerald, Senior Engineer,
Limerick County Council.
“This is the final piece of the road network to
by-pass Limerick City”, he added. “It will remove up to 40,000
vehicles a day that do not need to go through the city. Reducing
traffic on city streets by up to 30% will greatly reduce congestion,
journey times and accidents in the city and allow us to implement
planned improvements to the city centre environment, including
bus corridors and cycle lanes, giving priority to pedestrians
on city streets and making the city a nicer place to visit. The
scheme will not only benefit commuter traffic and improve access
to Shannon Airport and County Clare. It will also benefit the
local and regional economy and will promote regional development
and tourism.”
The tunnel will be 900m long and comprises two carriageways,
one for northbound traffic and one for southbound traffic.
Limerick County Council is working with Clare County
Council and Limerick City Council in consultation with the National
Roads Authority (NRA) to complete the Limerick Southern Ring Road
Phase 2. This project was identified in the National Development
Plan and is to be developed as a Public Private Partnership Scheme
(PPP) and will be tolled. Two toll plazas are proposed; one at
Coonagh West and one on the Clonmacken Link Road.
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has also
been prepared by RPS –MCOS and COWI Consulting Engineers. This
will be submitted by Limerick County Council to An Bord Pleanála
for approval and notification of the publication of the EIS will
be given in local and national newspapers within the next week.
Members of the public can inspect the four volume Environmental
Impact Statement at the Mid West National Road Design Office in
Mungret College and at County Hall, Dooradoyle during office hours
from 30th October -4th December 2003. A physical model of the
Scheme has been made and may be inspected during the same period
at County Hall, Dooradoyle. The EIS is available to purchase,
on CD or in hard copy format, from the above offices.
Further information, as well as the full text of
EIS Volume 1, Non Technical Summary, are available to be viewed
at the following website address, www.midwestroads.ie
