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June 13, 2001
By Seán McCárthaigh
Irish Examiner
By 2006, motorists travelling on all major national routes out of Dublin will face possible toll charges.
New ring roads around Waterford and Limerick will also impose a charge on drivers hoping to cut crossing times around the cities.
It follows the identification by the National Roads Authority (NRA) of 11 road schemes suitable for toll charges under Public Private Partnership agreements.
It is believed that each of the chosen routes — which will be developed as motorways or high-quality, dual carriageways — will attract sufficient traffic levels to make the schemes attractive to private operators as well as reducing congestion in areas they bypass.
In general, tolls will range from £1.10 to £1.65. It means a driver on a return journey from Dublin to Ennis could face three separate tolls, costing up to £8.80.
However, PPP schemes are only being authorised where motorists can also use alternative routes which are not tolled.
The NRA promises the completed toll roads will help reduce journey times — ranging from 58 minutes on the Dublin-Cork route to 24 minutes from Dublin to the border crossing at Newry.
Although the concept of tolling is relatively new to Ireland, it has proved popular on the Westlink and Eastlink crossings over the River Liffey in Dublin.
Over 24.6 million drivers used the Westlink last year, generating £24.8m in revenue, while 7.6 million vehicles crossed the Eastlink, generating £5.5m.
Approval for the construction of a second Westlink bridge to alleviate congestion on the M50 was recently given the go-ahead as part of the PPP scheme.
However, critics of the NRA claim toll roads are ineffective when they are used to bypass towns which are not major urban centre
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