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Tim O'Brien
Irish Times Tuesday, August 28, 2001
The imposition of tolls on the proposed Enfield bypass in Co Meath will worsen the traffic hazard in the village, it was
claimed yesterday.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) is seeking approval for two toll plazas on the proposed Kilcock-Enfield-Kilbeg
gan motorway and on the approach to it from Enfield. However, speaking at the oral hearing into the tolls proposal in
Mullingar, Ms Sarah Carey, a resident and traders' representative, said tolls meant traffic would only use the bypass at
peak times. At other times, when traffic was light in Enfield drivers - and particularly regular drivers - would be
"encouraged" to use the old main road through the village.
"Accidents don't happen at peak time, they happen when the traffic is moving fast, and that is what we are being left with,
fast moving traffic through Enfield," she said.
Ms Carey also said drivers, if they left the motorway to visit Enfield, would have to pay a second toll at the Enfield plaza
to rejoin the motorway. This would deter visitors to the town.
She also spoke for a number of residents who live in the area of the toll plaza at Enfield. These people, she said, would
be adversely affected by noise, light and exhaust pollution.
Mr Patrick Prendergast, a vice-chairman of Enfield Community Council, said the antisocial problems caused by the
severance the road would create had not been addressed by the NRA. The town would be cut off from its hinterland,
and people would experience difficulty "with every social function".
A Meath county councillor, Mr William Carey, said the whole process was flawed as the NRA had not yet received
planning permission for the motorway.
Tolling would increase the use of the former national roads, and the maintenance of these would fall on the county
council. He also argued that the motorway would discourage the use of public transport.
For the NRA, Mr Gerry Murphy said significant funds were being attracted from the private sector to construct the
motorway because it would be a tolled road. This allowed accelerated construction, which was the aim of the road
programme in the National Development Plan.
The 35km motorway would eliminate existing bottlenecks on the important M4 and M6 routes from Dublin to the west.
Mr Peter Broch, of COWI Consulting Engineers and Partners, said the tolls were designed for minimum disruption to the
motorway traffic, 75 per cent of which would be long distance.
The placing of tolls at the Enfield ramp as well as on the main route would protect the motorway from drivers simply
bypassing the tolls by joining the motorway at Enfield. He said the charges worked out at euro0.05 per km, which was
cheaper than continental Europe.
Mr Broch said the proposed system of tolling would allow for electronic scanning and billing of vehicles, a feature which
was in its infancy but which would greatly speed traffic through the toll plaza in the future.
A total of nine separate bodies and individuals made objections to the inquiry. It was conducted by the former Dún
Laoghaire-Rathdown county manager, Mr Kevin O'Sullivan, who is now a consultant on local government. He will now
prepare a report which will be submitted to the board of the NRA.
©Irish Times
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