Residents meet to discuss potential plans for a new six lane motorway
A large crowd gathered in the Glenview Hotel on Monday, December 2, to raise concerns about the proposed plans for the new motorway routes on the N11.
A spokesperson for the residents said that some of those present said it was the first time they were informed that a new six-lane motorway could potentially rip through green belts, farms, houses, businesses and amenities in the area.
This meeting followed another held in late November where locals discussed the road plans, proposed developments in the area, and proposed changes to the bus network.
The spokesperson said that ‘for some attendees the motorway proposals would destroy the viability of their farms.
‘For others, it would rip through their living rooms. Others would be left stranded on an island between the old N11 and the new M11.’
A spokesperson also said that concerns were also raised about potential health side effects.
The spokesperson said that the mood from the floor was ‘mystified, frustrated and determined.
‘People, of course, see the importance of improved transport. But they are mystified as to why these options have been chosen.
‘ They are frustrated about the lack of proper information and why the little information there is was given to just a small section of those affected.
‘ They are determined to use every possible option – whether it be awareness raising, objections, legal challenges or more to stop the scheme in its tracks and force a rethink,’ said the spokesman.
‘ The local residents from Kilpedder, Drummin, Glen of the Downs, Ballydonagh, Delgany, Greystones, Kilmmuary, Kilmac, Foxborough Lane, and many other areas are now joining forces to fight the new six-lane motorway routes that were sprung upon them without warning by Wicklow County Council recently.
‘ The new motorway routes, which would tear up greenbelts, farms, businesses, homes, sports facilities and communities are proposed as alternatives to the improvement and widening of the N11 to make it the M11,’ he said. ‘ The proposals have no support either from local residents or based on the research and studies undertaken by various authorities.’
He went on to say that ‘a needs assessment completed in 2017, found no evidence to support a motorway. The national roads strategy also failed to find any basis for putting more cars on the N11 as it would just bring more cars onto an already full M50.
‘ There’s a number of routes. But taking say the Orange and Pink ones as the first example. It would rip through or over Drummin Hill, traverse the valley at Delgany Village, take out a section of houses at Valley View, before moving on up through Delgany Golf Club, into more houses, trees and farms at Ballydonagh and into Foxborough Lane before re-joining the existing N11 (or new parts of what are the existing N11 route).
‘ The scheme would need huge embankments or flyovers – maybe eight storeys high, for motorways with capacity for up to 80,000 cars per day and costing huge amounts of taxpayers money. And all just announced with limited information. The Cyan route to the west of the beautiful Glen of the Downs takes a more meandering route. And on the map provided by the proposers, it looks harmless.
‘But local knowledge shows that the route would destroy the livelihood of countless small farmers, whose families have worked the land for generations.
‘It would demolish an ancient ring fort, hit wells or water courses at many points. Not to mention the homes that would be wrecked or left severed from any local village.
‘Widening the N11 also brings a multitude of challenges in engineering, environmental, cost and more.
‘ The so called Red Corridor creates problems instead of solving them and it too would wreck the homes and lives of families living in the path of the bulldozers.
‘And none of the options actually address the real issues – bad planning, poor public transport, siloed thinking and the ill-conceived desire to pump hundreds of millions of euro into a road that is not needed, not wanted and not properly planned.
The spokesperson said he felt that the presence of local political representatives showed how important the issue is in the area.
Objections on the basis of environmental grounds, community severance, health damage, -, economic development needs, and more can to be sent to N11M11@arup.com before December 13.’
Separately, as Keep Enniskerry Connected work on a number of local issues, they invite people to contact them on enniskerry.kec@gmail.com or 085 8752616.